Energetica India Magazine - November 2025

FEATURE STORY Rajiv Ganju, Senior Vice President Manufacturing and Global Supply Chain, Luminous Power Technol- ogies, said at REconnect Jaipur, “Backward integration is key from foundries to ingots, slicing, and en- capsulation, all should be in close proximity. China’s success lies in this clustering model, which drastically reduces logistics and energy costs.” Ensuring Availability of Electricity and Water: Manufacturing of polysilicon, ingots, and wafers, which require high-preci- sion heating, is energy-intensive. As per IEA estimates, elec- tricity accounts for over 40 percent of production costs for polysilicon and nearly 20 percent for ingots and wafers. “We must ensure uninterrupted water supply and work towards reducing energy costs through renewables,” asserted Ganju. Production Cost: For India to be a manufacturing power- house, the domestic market is not enough; it must be driven by export growth. Hence, production costs must be lowered to compete globally. As per a report by IEA, costs in China are 10 percent lower than in India, 20 percent lower than in the United States, and 35 percent lower than in Europe. Government support is a must for the solar industry to be cost-competitive. Supportive Government Policies: While India’s policy land- scape is now quite supportive for domestic manufacturing of solar components through PLI and ALMM, and other de- mand-side stimuli, it must maintain this outlook for a long period of time. Making it a strategically important sector will ensure a continuous flow of investment. Further, Ganju pointed out that solar technologies are evolv- ing rapidly from PERC to TOPCon and soon to Perovskite. “There’s a real risk of technology redundancy. Policy support must include safety nets or incentives for companies invest- ing in currently viable but quickly evolving technologies,” he said. India must also invest heavily in R&D to stay ahead of the technology curve. Tackling the Threat of Technological Change In India, 2024 marked the inflexion point for TOPCon manufacturing. The technology’s superior efficiency, better temperature performance, higher bifacial gains, and lower light-induced degradation are positioning it to surpass PERC and dominate domestic production over the next three to five years. Back Contact (BC) and Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) technologies—already gaining traction in the US, Ger- many, Japan, and China—bring clear advantages in both per- formance and aesthetics. India is expected to catch up quick- ly, with IBC and advanced hybrid formats like IBC–TOPCon emerging as the next major wave in the coming 3–4 years. energetica INDIA- November_2025 42