12 Years of Make in India: The Rise of Domestic Solar Manufacturing

The progress over the past 12 years shows how far the sector has come. From a small manufacturing base in 2014, India is today producing solar modules and cells at scale and is preparing to build significant capability in ingots, wafers and other upstream segments.

September 25, 2026. By News Bureau

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Amit Manohar

Indian Solar Manufactures Association

Domestic Solar Manufacturing

Make in India

ALMM

Module manufacturing capacity

MNRE

India’s solar manufacturing journey over the past 12 years is a strong example of how the Make in India initiative has helped translate policy ambition into industrial capability.

When the Make in India initiative was launched in 2014, solar power was already gathering momentum in the country, but the industry meant to build it was still in its infancy. Module manufacturing capacity stood at a modest 2.3 GW, and most panels installed in India were either imported as finished modules or assembled from imported cells. Twelve years on, that small base has grown into one of the world's largest solar manufacturing industries.

This transformation has been built steadily through a series of complementary policy measures. The Approved List of Models and Manufacturers gave developers and government agencies a way to distinguish quality-assured domestic products from the rest, while Domestic Content Requirements under key government schemes created assured demand for Indian-made cells and modules. Basic customs duty on imported cells and modules, introduced in 2022, helped create a level playing field for domestic manufacturers. The Production Linked Incentive Scheme went further still, rewarding integration rather than mere capacity, guiding manufacturers to move beyond assembling modules towards building cells, wafers and, eventually, polysilicon itself.

The scale of the resulting transformation is hard to overstate. Module manufacturing capacity enlisted under the ALMM has now crossed 233 GW, against the 2.3 GW of total capacity the country had in 2014. This build-out tracked a market that was itself expanding briskly: installed solar capacity rose from 2.82 GW in March 2014 to over 168 GW by August 2026, a nearly sixty-fold jump that gave manufacturers the demand certainty to justify large new factories.

The Production Linked Incentive scheme, with a total outlay of INR 24,000 crore, has been central to this push towards integration, and its impact is most visible in cell manufacturing. When MNRE published the first ALMM List-II for solar cells in July 2025, it enlisted around 13 GW of domestic capacity; the latest list stands at about 36 GW. The growth is significant, as cell manufacturing is technologically more complex than module assembly, requiring tighter process control and more specialised equipment. This expansion marks India's steady progress into the more demanding stages of solar manufacturing.

The next frontier lies further upstream. MNRE recently shared the ALMM framework to cover solar ingots and wafers, with compliance due from 1 June 2028. These are stages of the value chain India has historically imported almost entirely, so bringing them under the same architecture signals an intent to close the loop on backward integration rather than stop at cells.

This is also closely aligned with the broader vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. In solar manufacturing, self-reliance is not about looking inward. It is about developing the scale, technology and supply-chain depth required to meet India’s own rapidly growing demand while building internationally competitive manufacturing capabilities.

The opportunity ahead is considerable. Cells, wafers and polysilicon are capital-intensive and technologically demanding businesses, but Indian companies are increasingly investing across these segments. At the same time, the domestic market continues to expand.

India has already crossed 168 GW of installed solar capacity and is working towards its national goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030. This provides domestic manufacturers with one of the largest growth opportunities anywhere in the world.

The progress over the past 12 years shows how far the sector has come. From a small manufacturing base in 2014, India is today producing solar modules and cells at scale and is preparing to build significant capability in ingots, wafers and other upstream segments.

Make in India helped create the foundation for this transformation. The next phase will be about deepening the value chain, strengthening technology capabilities and positioning India as a globally competitive hub for solar manufacturing.

- Amit Manohar, Secretary General, Indian Solar Manufactures Association