Topaz Solar, a private Indian company, will set up a 1.2 GW module manufacturing unit in Odisha, India. The payback period of the project is anticipated to be six years and the project will be developed on a 40-acre plot of land in the vicinity of Bhubaneshwar.

The entire unit will be developed in two phases. Phase-I will be 500 MW and Phase-II will be 700 MW capacity. The total inlay of the first phase of the 500 MW will be ₹2.4 billion (~$37 million), of which, ₹800 million (~$12.5 million) will be equity and ₹1.6 billion (~$25 million) debt. Out of the total project cost, ₹1.8 billion (~$28 million) will be spent on imported equipment, according to a company release.

The second phase will commence two years from the commercial production of 500 MW in the first phase.

In an exclusive interview with Mercom, Mr. Ganesan Natarajan, chairman of Topaz Solar, said, “The time is ripe for foraying into module manufacturing.”

Explaining his statement, Mr. Natarajan said, “The anti-dumping investigation is the second time Chinese solar imports are being questioned by India and this time around anti-dumping will be levied as there are many political and trade equations in play between India and China.”

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is also providing a direct market for Indian manufacturers and it has proposed increasing the capacity targeted under the CPSU program, added Mr. Natarajan.

He also said the government is providing subsidies to set up manufacturing units, and in the past two years the India solar market has grown multifold, making the timing just perfect to set up module manufacturing in India.

Topaz Solar is availing a 25 percent capital subsidy from the Odisha state government to set up the manufacturing unit. Apart from this, the state is also providing a 5 percent per annum interest subsidy on term loan and GST payback for a five-year period.

If Topaz Solar’s capacity is constructed, it will be equal to Adani’s current manufacturing capacity which is the largest in India. Adani, Vikram Solar, Emmvee, and Waaree Energies are the top four Indian solar module manufacturers, according to the recently released Q2 2017 India Solar Market Update, by Mercom India Research.

Updated: With corrections