The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) proposal for implementation of the second tranche of the Production Linked Incentive(PLI) scheme on the national programme on high efficiency solar photovoltaic (PV) modules.
The second tranche has an outlay of ₹19,500 crore for achieving manufacturing capacity of Gigawatt (GW) scale in high efficiency solar PV modules, MNRE said in a statement.
Benefits
“It is estimated that about 65,000 megawatt (MW) per annum manufacturing capacity of fully and partially integrated, solar PV modules would be installed. The scheme will bring direct investment of around ₹94,000 crore,” it added.
This will lead to creation of manufacturing capacity for balance of materials like EVA, Solar glass, Backsheet, etc. Besides, the government expects that it will generate direct employment for about 1,95,000 and indirect employment of 7,80,000 people.
It will aid in import substitution of around 1.37 lakh crore. Further, impetus is being given to research and development (R&D) to achieve higher efficiencies in solar PV modules.
“The national programme on high efficiency solar PV modules aims to build an ecosystem for its manufacturing in India, and thus reduce import dependence in the area of renewable energy. It will strengthen the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and generate employment,” MNRE said.
Increasing manufacturing base
Solar PV manufacturers will be selected through a transparent selection process. The PLI will be disbursed for 5 years post commissioning of the manufacturing plants
The first tranche of PLI was for an outlay of ₹4,500 crore for supporting the setting up of integrated manufacturing units
Encouraging response was received to the PLI tender and bids for around 55 GW of manufacturing capacity were received. Letters of Award (LoA) have been issued to the eligible successful bidders to the extent of funds allocated
The total capacity for manufacturing solar modules in the country is about 20 GW, of which about 13.3 GW has been enlisted in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM).