The manufacture of solar modules is among the 13 industrial sectors encompassed by a production-linked incentive scheme announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she presented the union budget.
The government has committed almost INR1.97 lakh crore to the five-year scheme, which will start in the new fiscal year. Of that sum INR4,500 crore will be set aside for the manufacture of high-efficiency solar modules, with the incentive program applied to the sector by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.
Under the scheme, the government will incentivize domestic and foreign manufacturers to build gigawatt scale, vertically integrated manufacturing facilities in India.
An MNRE press release about the program, issued yesterday, stated: “The expenditure finance committee (EFC) meeting for formulating a scheme in this regard has already been held. It will now be taken to the cabinet for final approval. The scheme will reward [the] efficiency of solar modules as well as local value addition.”
The solar portion of the production-linked incentive scheme will aim to attract 10 GW of annual, vertically-integrated – ingot-to-module – solar production capacity by the end of 2022-23, according to the MNRE, which also mentioned “direct investment for around INR14,000 crore,” presumably a figure which the department expects the program to attract from solar manufacturers.
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MNRE reminds me of a “Head in the Sand” Ministry and perhaps should be (re)named HINTS Ministry… yes HEAD IN THE SAND MINISTRY….
If India wants Zero Pollution by 2050…. as EU is already doing, and the USA has “finally” joined, and many other Nations are right there too (China.. on its own agenda, as usual, in 2060)…. it will have to do a lot more…. but MNRE/HINTS wants 10GW of Ingot-PV Panel Industry in two Years…. or 5 GW/yr….
To meet Zero Pollution requiring 15TW (10KWhrs/pp/yr for 1.5 Billion for ALL ENERGY NEEDS).. or 15,000GW… it will take hundreds if years to meet ZERO POLLUTION in India… now it is clear why HINTS Ministry better reflects the actions of MNRE in India….
India needs at least 500GW/yr Ingot-to-PVPanels (actually AVPV Panels… AgriVoltaics PV Panels) Manufacturing Facilities to install a 15TW AVPV System by 2050…. to eliminate 2.5 Million PreMature Deaths and 35Million DALY of Suffering Annually.
This level of manufacturing can exist “forever” to replenish 30 year old AVPV Panels after their 30 year Operating Life…. resulting in a Sustainable 500GW Ingot-AV/PV Panel Industry in the future and ensure Health and Clear skies free from Pollution for ALL….