Tycoon drives India’s push against China’s solar-energy dominance

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. AHMEDABAD, India—Gautam Adani, the billionaire founder of one of India’s biggest business conglomerates, lies at the intersection of the country’s clean energy challenge to China. Adani Group, which built its energy empire on coal, is setting up an entire solar supply chain starting with indigenous manufacturing of ingots, wafers, cells and panels, and soon polysilicon.

It is also constructing a solar farm in Khavda, western India, that will cover an area over five times the size of Paris. The group’s goal reflects India’s twin aims of aggressively chasing renewable-energy targets while reducing dependence on Chinese imports, goals that are often in conflict with each other. India wants to install 500 gigawatts of renewable-energy capacity by 2030, but it is only two-fifths of the way there.

Solar makes up nearly half of the country’s renewable mix. Although India has managed to start building solar panels within its borders, the raw materials are mainly imported from China. At the same time, India is forcing domestic solar-power developers to buy panels from approved Indian manufacturers that sell at almost twice the price of Chinese panels and are often of inferior quality.

That tension offers opportunities for firms with deep pockets, such as the $200 billion Adani Group, that can afford to take on enormous investments throughout the supply chain. “We are playing the entire energy game," said Sagar Adani, who oversees the group’s renewable-energy businesses and is Gautam Adani’s nephew. India has long had a strained relationship with its neighbor.