India Says Rising Solar Cell Output Will Curb Imports From China

(Bloomberg) — India expects a surge in domestic solar-cell making capacity in the coming months, which will help reduce its dependence on imported materials from China to manufacture solar panels, the country’s top renewable energy official said.

The nation’s cells capacity is set to jump fivefold to about 30 gigawatts a year by March 2025, Renewable Energy Secretary Bhupinder Singh Bhalla said in an interview in New Delhi. This will allow the government to widen import restrictions aimed at boosting local adoption of solar power hardware and achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of increasing self-sufficiency in the sector.