First Solar to make solar panels in India; no China input: US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

First Solar of the US will invest «billions of dollars» for solar panel production in India that will not source materials from China, US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm told ET. She also indicated that Tesla is in discussions for investing in India. «India brings in the notion of scale, and the US' contribution is laboratories and efforts we are making to incentivise production.

That combination helps both to achieve their goals,» Granholm said in an interview, pointing to funding from the US Development Finance Corporation for the renewables sector. She was in the National Capital for the India-US Strategic Clean Energy Partnership meet on Tuesday. When asked about Tesla's plans to invest in India in the backdrop of the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and company chief executive Elon Musk, the secretary said the carmaker is in talks with the Indian government.

Tesla would be in India «as soon as humanly possible,» Musk had said last month. «The US views India, and rightly so, as the most essential partner in the clean energy transition,» said Granholm after meeting oil and gas minister Hardeep Puri. «India has committed a significant amount in green hydrogen.» The US energy secretary also met RK Singh, minister of state for new and renewable energy.

«Funding-wise, India has committed, and the private sector is clearly listening,» she said. «For example, US firm First Solar will invest billions of dollars for production of solar panels in India that does not depend on any materials from China. They are doing the same expansion in the US.» Granholm elaborated on the principles underscoring the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership.