Make In India

ABB has adopted Industry 5.0 production processes at its smart power solutions factory in Bengaluru. With “cobots” working alongside humans, the factory’s productivity has improved by 40%, while energy productivity has gone up by more than 15%.

Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motor is investing INR 7,300 crore (around $914 million) to set up the electric vehicle battery plant at Hansalpur in Gujarat. The plant will manufacture advanced-chemistry cell batteries.

Hitachi Energy’s new production facility in India will manufacture solutions that support stable electrical networks and reduce energy consumption.

India installed 14GW of new PV in 2021. This year, utility-scale developers are pushing to import modules and build inventory for 2022 installations, before a basic customs duty goes into effect in May, with a 40% duty for module imports and 25% for cells. PV module distributors are also expected to build their inventories to save on duties and have enough supply for the C&I segment in 2022. After assessing the country’s current demand, project pipeline, and module availability, IHS Markit’s Dharmendra Kumar forecasts 18GW to be added in 2022.

The Indian solar manufacturing sector is set for a boom in the coming years, due to the country’s enormous appetite for solar and policy support in the form of import duties and local production incentives. On the technology side, a few players are already looking at n-type TOPCon cells, but their embrace by the majority has been slow to materialize, due to the high investment costs that are required. This ensures that the build-out of new PERC capacity will continue over the short term.

Ashutosh Verma, founder of solar appliance manufacturing company Exalta India, says the key to increasing the uptake of solar products in rural areas lies in improving the access to finance, infrastructure to retain the technology, and awareness on usage.

The annual demand for lithium-ion batteries in India will reach 116 GWh in FY 2029-30, with electric vehicles (EVs) accounting for 90%.

Nexcharge, a joint venture of India’s largest lead-acid storage battery manufacturer, Exide Industries Limited, and Swiss Lithium-ion battery manufacturer Leclanché, has fully automated assembly lines of li-ion battery packs, modules, and cell testing labs in Gujarat. Ketan Chitnis, vice president-stationary BU, tells pv magazine the government’s PLI Scheme is a major incentive for attracting investment into Li-ion cell manufacturing.

Noida-headquartered Lohum plans to expand its integrated lithium-ion battery manufacturing and recycling facility in India to 3 GWh and expand into the US with its first facility. Co-founder Justin Lemmon speaks to pv magazine about how their operations in India will solve the battery supply chain and cost challenge for the nation’s electric mobility and renewable energy ambitions.

First Solar has announced plans to establish a new 3.3 GW manufacturing facility in India. Representing an investment of $684 million, the move demonstrates the thin-film PV manufacturer’s confidence in India’s solar growth and the increasingly favorable policy environment for domestic solar PV production.