Govt plans new scheme to support domestic manufacturing of polysilicon

The Centre is working on a new scheme to support the domestic manufacturing of polysilicon, a key component for solar modules, said Santosh Kumar Sarangi, secretary, Union ministry of new and renewable energy, on Friday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit 2026, the secretary said that about 30 gigawatts of domestic polysilicon manufacturing capacity would be required by 2030, with an estimated investment potential of ₹25,000 crore.

“To ensure India's energy security and ensure that India's manufacturing resilience is maintained, any capacity of 30GW and above should be good for the Indian context. So, we would look at at least 30GW of capacity addition by 2030,” he told reporters.

The official also said that a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme was introduced to support production of polysilicon, wafers, cells and modules. However, a very small capacity for polysilicon is likely to be part of the initiative.

Under the ongoing PLI scheme, the major focus is on solar modules and cells. India's current solar module manufacturing capacity is over 200GW, while cell manufacturing stands around 30GW.

The Centre is also working on a new scheme for wafers and ingots. Modules are made by assembling cells, while backward integration involves manufacturing the components used to make them. Polysilicon is used to make ingots, which are then processed into wafers and used to produce cells.

Self-reliance push

Currently, China dominates the solar manufacturing ecosystem, and India has been working to reduce import dependence across all components, as the country aims to achieve 500GW of non-fossil capacity, of which about 300GW will be solar.

Sarangi also said that the prices of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFB), an alternative to lithium-ion batteries, could fall as the demand grows. A lot of research is going on in this area, he said.

Addressing the event, the secretary said that India’s energy transition will require about $500 billion in investment by the end of this decade and approximately $13 trillion to achieve its net-zero carbon emissions target by 2070.

Further, a report launched during the summit on Friday showed that India is now a major data-centre market, with its IT capacity quadrupling over the past six years to 1.7GW. The country has a pipeline of 1.3GW of data-centre capacity under construction and another 3.2GW of projects that have secured the land, power, and permits needed for construction.

“Strong scores on energy availability and fibre connectivity make India a preferred destination for building data centres in Asia-Pacific,” the report said.