REconnect Summit- 2025: Industry Leaders Urge Rapid Solar Manufacturing Scale-Up for 2030 Target
At the REconnect Summit-2025, experts highlighted the need to scale up domestic solar manufacturing and bridge supply chain gaps to help India achieve its 500 GW renewable energy target by 2030.
August 05, 2025. By EI News Network
This issue was a major focus of panel discussion titled 'Meeting the Surge--Scaling Module Manufacturing and Critical Components in India,' held as part of the REconnect Summit organised by Energetica India in New Delhi.
The session was moderated by Rajesh Kumar Jain, former Technical Advisor to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), with other panelists included Dr. Pushprai Mishra, Senior Technical Staff (Energy), Government of India, Alok Agarwal, Sr. VP and Head - Module Manufacturing, SAEL
Jain, opened with a reflective look at the country’s solar journey. “Until 2010, solar was mostly used in rural areas for lighting and battery charging,” he said. “But things changed with the launch of the National Solar Mission. Today, we’re talking not just in megawatts but gigawatts.” he continued.
That statement underscored India’s massive progress, with installed renewable energy capacity standing at over 242 GW as of July 2025. Still, panelists cautioned that hitting the 2030 mark will require an industrial-scale transformation in solar manufacturing.
Mishra noted that while module manufacturing capacity in India has touched 80 GW per year, cell manufacturing lags behind at just 20 GW. To meet future needs, those numbers must nearly double, with module capacity reaching 150 GW and cells climbing to at least 55–60 GW annually.
Agarwal emphasised that this growth must also address deep-seated supply chain dependencies. “Despite growth in module assembly, we depend on imports for core materials like solar glass, encapsulants, and junction boxes,” he pointed out.
Dwelling on the policy shifts one of the panelists said that the mandatory compliance with the Approved List of Cell Manufacturers by mid-2026, might increase cell prices by 20 to 25 percent, threatening project viability unless offset by cheaper storage or other efficiency gains.
Moreover, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme has provided a helpful tailwind. But progress has been uneven. Speakers agreed that sudden regulatory changes hurt project planning. “Recent experience shows that giving 18–20 months’ notice for new policies helps everyone prepare better,” one expert stressed, calling for a more predictable legislative ecosystem that supports long-term investments.
Another concern that surfaced was quality, particularly around imported modules. One speaker cited on-ground data showing that 9 percent of Chinese-made modules installed in India experienced premature encapsulant degradation. The implications for long-term warranties and project reliability are significant. “Five years down the line, if these modules fail, will the manufacturers be around?” the expert asked, casting doubt on the sustainability of heavily import-dependent procurement strategies
Looking ahead, the panel identified several priorities for achieving true self-reliance. These included extending PLI incentives to cover upstream components, leveraging free trade agreements with countries like the UK, UAE, and Australia for tech transfer; and revamping engineering curricula to focus on solar technology.
Agarwal added that while India’s module capacity is now operating at roughly 80 GW and is targeting 120 GW, human resources will be a make-or-break factor. “We need a highly skilled workforce for AI-driven factories,” he said, highlighting the increasing role of automation and precision engineering in solar manufacturing.
The panel discussed the need for vocational and technical education reform, suggesting models like Germany’s industry-academia tie-ups to upskill India’s workforce.
The discussion concluded on a reflective but determined note. However, they agreed that India’s leadership in the global solar market would depend on its ability not just to install solar capacity but to truly own the value chain. As one speaker put it, “We’ve moved from solar being a government-backed rural product to a gigawatt-scale grid enabler.”
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