Tata Power’s newly constructed 4.3 gigawatt (GW) solar module and cell manufacturing plant in southern India is set to primarily serve the domestic market, despite the significant growth in solar exports from the country. The facility, located in Tamil Nadu with an investment of 43 billion rupees ($508 million), will focus on meeting the demands of the Indian market.
Praveer Sinha, CEO of Tata Power, explained that the plant spread across 317 acres and surrounded by wind turbines, is strategically designed for India’s burgeoning solar energy sector. “This plant is being established to cater to the Indian market… India offers tremendous opportunities. The production for the next 12 to 16 months is already committed to various projects,” Sinha said during a visit to the facility on Friday.
While Tata Power’s facility is focused on India, many solar manufacturers are increasingly targeting the U.S. market, the second-largest solar consumer after China. In the past two years, exports of Indian solar modules have surged by more than 23 times, with the United States accounting for over 97% of the exports, as reported by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
India currently has a solar module production capacity of 80 GW and a cell manufacturing capacity of just over 7 GW, with Indian companies still depending on Chinese-made cells for module production. In contrast, China dominates the global solar export market, contributing approximately 80% of the world’s solar shipments.
Tata Power’s new Tamil Nadu plant has the capacity to add an additional 4 GW of module and cell production, but Sinha mentioned that decisions regarding expansion would be made at a later stage.
Looking forward, Tata Power aims to achieve annual revenue of over 1 trillion rupees by 2030, up from approximately 615 billion rupees for the fiscal year ending March 2024. The company also plans to more than double its annual profit to 100 billion rupees by 2030.
Tata Power has outlined a capital expenditure plan of nearly 1.46 trillion rupees between 2024-2025 and 2029-2030, with around 60% of the investment focused on renewable energy.
