The Jakson Group has decided to raise its solar cell manufacturing target to 1,000 MW from 250 MW annually on the back of Atmanirbhar Bharat thrust.
The manufacturing of solar cells and modules is low in India, with about 85-90 percent of the country’s requirement for its solar projects being met through imports, majority from China.
In 2017, the company had decided to manufacture 1,000MW solar modules and 250MW of solar cells. However, the plan has now been revised with cell manufacturing capacity being increased four times.
A unit to manufacture 500MW solar modules is already under construction at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The cell manufacturing plant is likely to be constructed within next 12-16 months.
Over the last few months, the Indian government has attempted to bolster solar manufacturing by announcing a series of measures including production linked incentives (PLI) for manufacturers, and a basic customs duty on solar imports to help local manufacturers compete better on price.
The total project cost will be lower than what the company had envisaged four years ago as the cost of plant and machinery has reduced.
The company has already invested in land and machinery. It has invested around Rs 150 crore so far.
The next phase would be 500MW modules and 500MW cells. The new plant’s location is likely to be close to a port as it will save logistics costs on exports. The company will be able to recover the cost in the next two or three years if it invests now.
Jakson Group already has module manufacturing capacity of 80MW which it set up a few years ago. This module manufacturing business generated around Rs 250 crore in 2020.
With another 500MW of module capacity coming up, the company expects its revenue to grow to Rs 650 crore in 2021.
