Grew Energy was earlier awarded Rs 567 crore incentive from the centre for solar equipment manufacturing facility under the PLI scheme.
New Delhi: Gujarat-based solar module maker Grew Energy, part of the $1 billion Chiripal Group, may look at setting up manufacturing facilities for solar glass and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) sheets, in addition to module making projects, if required, the company’s Director Vinay Thadani said.
Grew Energy was earlier awarded Rs 567 crore incentive from the centre for solar equipment manufacturing facility under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. For that, the company is setting up an integrated project, including ingots, wafers, cells and modules with a capacity of 2 Gigawatt.
The project is being set up in three phases, with the first and the second phase coming up in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The first phase, including 1.2 GW of module manufacturing capacity was commercialised in September 2023. As part of the second phase, the firm is setting up 1.6 GW module manufacturing capacity. When When that is commissioned, the company’s total module capacity will rise to 2.8 GW.
“For our module manufacturing facility, the dependence on China is too large. This is because we are procuring cells from China. There are other raw materials too where Indian suppliers are not able to compete with Chinese suppliers. These are challenges being faced by us,” Thadani told ETEnergyworld in an exclusive interview.
Grew Energy has committed to maintaining a defined Local Value Addition (LVA) factor in the PLI scheme, and plans to achieve 65 per cent domestic procurement in the total value addition by March 2026. Some local manufacturers are now setting up capacity for materials which have sideways integration for module manufacturing, including glass, Aluminium frame, and EVA sheets.
“We too have a plan to go for sideways integration, and we will develop the whole ecosystem in Dholera. In case we encounter challenges in procurement and achieving the desired LVA factor, we may plan to set up manufacturing units for glass and EVA backsheet, which contribute 10 per cent each to the cost of module manufacturing,” Thadani said. The capacity being set up for cells and wafers contribute 50-60 per cent of the total cost.
Grew Energy has aggressive capex plans of Rs 6,000 crore, that will be funded in the ratio of 2:1, with the equity portion of around Rs 2,000 crore coming from the promoter and also funding that comes from equity partners.
The company is in talks with a few prominent fund houses targeting to raise anywhere between $75 million and $100 million. It is targeting overseas funds and is in an advanced stage of talks to raise the funds.
Source: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com
