Tata Power Solar said its net sales in fiscal year 2017 increased by 52 percent against the year‑earlier period to ₹2,262 crores. By comparison, net sales of ₹1,490 crores were reported in fiscal year 2016. The company revealed that revenues increased by more than 250 percent during the last two years. Tata Power Solar also reported that its after-tax profit increased by 330 percent in FY 2017.

The company attributed the profit increase to its strategic shift away from manufacturing and toward EPC contracting. However, that shift is not yet fully apparent in its operations as Tata announced a manufacturing capacity increase from 200 MW to 400 MW in March of 2017 and also increased its cell manufacturing capacity to 300 MW. In terms of EPC, the company has commissioned 605 MWs and ranked ninth in India according to Mercom’s India Q2 Solar Quarterly Update

 Tata Power Investor Presentation June 2017

Most large domestic manufacturers like Tata Power Solar announced manufacturing capacity increases in the past year in anticipation of higher business volumes needed to meet the government’s goal of reaching 100 GW in solar installations by 2022. But now, the antidumping case filed by the India Manufacturer’s Association is poised to have a significant impact on these domestic manufacturers, regardless of how it is decided. Public sector units already began pulling back on DCR tenders after India lost its Domestic Content case before the WTO, and those actions delivered a blow to domestic manufacturers.

The acquisition of Welspun’s solar portfolio in 2016 helped Tata Power gain its strong foothold in the sector. According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Tata Power had the largest installed solar capacity in India during Q2 2017. It currently holds a portfolio of 1 GW of installed solar projects with another 340 MW of projects in the pipeline.

Tata Power is also the top rooftop solar installer in India, with 140 MW installed as of Q2 2017.

Tenders and auctions have recently slowed down due to uncertainty surrounding GST tax rates, a low-tariff environment, and the pending antidumping case. Mercom India Research expects solar installations of approximately 10.5 GW in CY 2017, but installations in 2018 are forecast to decline by about 15 percent.

Image credit: Tata Power Renewables