Daijiworld Media Network – Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Jul 5: Solar equipment manufacturer Premier Energies plans to invest around Rs 6,000 crore over the next three years to establish ingot and wafer manufacturing facilities, strengthening its backward integration and becoming a fully integrated solar manufacturing company in India.

The proposed investment forms part of the company's overall capital expenditure plan of Rs 12,500 crore, which also includes expanding its solar cell and module manufacturing capacities to 10.6 GW and 11.1 GW respectively, besides entering new segments such as inverters, batteries and transformers.

Chief Business Officer Vinay Rustagi said the Andhra Pradesh government has approved the project and allotted 200 acres of land at Naidupeta, near Tirupati, where the company will establish 10 GW each of ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity. Construction is expected to begin shortly.

Rustagi said the new facilities would enable Premier Energies to become a fully integrated player in India's solar manufacturing sector, covering the complete value chain from ingots and wafers to solar cells and modules.

The company currently manufactures 3.6 GW of solar cells and 11.1 GW of modules annually from its facilities near Hyderabad.

He said the investment aligns with the Centre's push to achieve self-reliance in solar manufacturing. Earlier this year, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy expanded the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) framework to include ingots and wafers, with the revised norms coming into effect from Jun 1, 2028.

According to Rustagi, the upcoming capacity is primarily aimed at meeting the company's captive demand, although surplus wafer production will also be supplied to the domestic market. He added that the government's policy requiring domestically manufactured ingots and wafers from 2028 has provided a strong incentive for the investment.