India to shift solar manufacturing subsidy from sales-linked PLI to upfront capex support for key components: MNRE secy

New Delhi: India is shifting its strategy for solar component manufacturing from sales-based production-linked incentives (PLI) to an upfront capex-based subsidy for wafers, ingots and polysilicon, according to Santosh Kumar Sarangi, secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). The ministry is developing financial-support schemes for agri-photovoltaics, floating solar and bioenergy, Sarangi said in an interview.To address 43 GW of unsigned power agreements, representing a ₹2.1 trillion investment, implementation agencies such as Solar Energy Corp of India (SECI) are negotiating project cancellations for unviable sites and securing state commitments for others.

While India currently targets 50 GW of annual green energy additions to reach 500 GW by 2030, Sarangi noted that long-term net-zero emission goals may require a ramp-up to 80 GW annually. To support this, SECI is working on shorter bilateral contracts for industrial units and a contract for difference model for open-market sales.

Edited excerpts:Sustaining the momentum which we have already achieved is going to be the next big thing for us. In the current year, we have achieved nearly 48 to 50 gigawatts of RE installation, which is one of the highest in the last couple of years.

So, sustaining this and even bettering this will be one of our objectives, because if you look at Niti Aayog's recent net-zero projection for 2070, they are suggesting by that by that time, we need to have about 6,000 GW of variable RE, that is wind and solar, to achieve net zero [emissions].Even in a current policy scenario, it’s about 4,000 GW of addition, which they have envisaged. So that would require us to add anywhere between 60 to 80 GW of RE installation in future.