The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has opened the bids for setting up manufacturing capacities for a minimum of 10 GW of vertically-integrated high-efficiency solar modules under the production-linked incentive (PLI) program.

There are 16 bidders who have qualified, and the respective PLI requested by them have been released. As the next step, IREDA will decide on the PLI to be disbursed to each of these bidders.

Preference will be given to the bidder who has requested the lowest incentive corresponding to the capacities bid. In Stage 1 to 4 category, i.e., polysilicon, wafers, cells, and modules manufacturing, for 4 GW, Jindal has quoted the lowest PLI of ₹13.9 billion (~$185.07 million)

Under Stage 2 to 4, i.e., wafers, cells, and modules, Coal India has bid for the lowest PLI of ₹13.4 billion ($179 million). Similarly, under Stage 3 to 4 (cells and modules), Megha Engineering and Infrastructures has quoted the lowest PLI of ₹3.33 billion (~$44.34 million).

The manufacturing capacity and PLI would be allocated to the eligible applicants as per the bucket filling mechanism keeping in view the overall PLI limit of ₹45 billion ($601 million) and the PLI requested by the bidders.

The others in the list are:

The tender had received a strong response from the bidders and was oversubscribed by 5.48 times. The bidders had quoted a total capacity of 54.8 GW for polysilicon, ingot-wafer, cell, and module manufacturing.

In May this year, IREDA had invited bids to set up 10 GW of high-efficiency solar module manufacturing capacities. The tender followed the Union Cabinet’s approval to implement the PLI program to achieve gigawatt-scale solar module manufacturing capacity with an outlay of ₹45 billion (~$605 million).

Later, IREDA amended certain conditions in the request for selection (RfS) issued for a tender floated under the PLI program.

The interested party must ensure that the manufacturing capacities achieve the minimum level of integration of cells and modules, meet the minimum manufacturing capacity requirements, and follow the minimum threshold performance parameters of module efficiency as per the program guidelines.

Unless approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the successful bidder will not be allowed to invest in, merge with, or acquire projects of other successful applicants who have been awarded the incentive under this program until this program’s applicability (five years from the scheduled date of commissioning).

In November last year, the government had said in a notification that it would allocate ₹1.45 trillion (~$19.61 billion) for the ten critical sectors over the next five years. These vital sectors include- high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell batteries, and automobiles and auto components.

Recently, Mercom hosted a virtual conference, ‘Mercom India Solar Forum 2021.’ A session dedicated to the solar manufacturing sector titled ‘Moving Towards a Domestic Manufacturing Base with Sustainable Demand’ examined the issues related to the domestic manufacturing sector and measures to create a self-sustainable manufacturing ecosystem in the country. You can watch the recording here.

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