India installed just about 3.2 GW of solar capacity in the calendar year (CY) 2020, a 56% decline compared to 7.3 GW in 2019, according to the latest 2020 Q4 & Annual India Solar Market Update released by Mercom India Research. The installation decline was a result of the strict lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, as per Mercom’s forecast, the next two years could be the best two years for the Indian solar industry.

To dive deep into the various factors affecting the Indian solar sector and the future course of the Indian solar industry, Mercom is hosting a new virtual conference- “Mercom India Solar Summit,” which will address the ground realities and market outlook amid the rapidly changing solar space and the energy transition taking place in the country.

The virtual event will take place on April 08 and April 09, 2021.

The event will bring industry leaders and other stakeholders to share their views and ideas about the various aspects of the Indian solar industry amid the changing landscape.

There will be ten sessions spread across two days to deal with several topics concerning the Indian solar industry.

The event will kickstart with a session on the “Make in India” initiative promoted by the government. The session aptly titled “Solar Modules-To Make or Not to Make in India?” will discuss the government’s “Make in India” policy, new module technologies, supply chain issues, and how the developers and manufacturers are handling the cost pressure.

The panelists will include Avinash Hiranandani, Global CEO and Managing Director, RenewSys India; Ranjit Gupta, CEO of Azure Power; Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE); and Daniel Liu, Head of South and Central Asia, Jinko Solar.

The session will also touch on the production-linked incentive (PLI) program put forward by the government and how it will affect the manufacturing segment in the solar space.

The Indian government has been trying to boost the domestic manufacturing segment and make it globally competitive. In November 2020, the government announced a production-linked incentive (PLI) of ₹1.45 trillion (~$19.61 billion) for ten key sectors to help India attract investments in key manufacturing areas and develop cutting-edge technology.

The solar industry has welcomed the PLI program and believes the initiative can change the face of domestic manufacturing. However, a certain amount of clarity is needed on certain issues relating to the criteria for utilizing the incentives. Mercom wrote about the PLI initiative and how it was going to affect the domestic solar manufacturing sector.

You can register here for the conference.