Indosol Solar to Launch Ingot-Wafer Facility in Andhra Pradesh Next Month

Indosol Solar Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Shirdi Sai Electricals Ltd, is preparing to inaugurate its ingot-cum-wafer facility located at Ramayapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. When production begins next month at the ₹3,000-crore facility, it will mark the operation of the country's only operational ingot plant.

Silicon ingots form the foundation of the solar supply chain, as they are sliced into thin wafers before being processed into cells and solar modules. By next month, Indosol Solar expects to operate a 1.2 GW integrated facility capable of producing ingots, cells, and modules. The company has outlined longer-term plans to reach a capacity of 10 GW of integrated capacity, eventually scaling to 20 GW across the ingot-wafer-cell-module value chain.

India currently mandates the use of domestically manufactured cells and modules for specific government and government-supported solar projects, with localisation requirements scheduled to extend to wafers by June 2028. However, Indosol Solar has chosen to move ahead of the government-mandated timeline.

Balachander Krishnan, COO of Indosol Solar, noted that producing ingots and wafers presents significant technical challenges, prompting the company to familiarise itself with the process well ahead of the mandatory deadline.

Beyond domestic readiness, Indosol Solar is targeting the export market in the United States. According to Krishnan, US cell manufacturers face a critical bottleneck due to a shortage of non-Chinese, high-purity solar wafers. While US cell manufacturing capacity is projected to rise to 25 GW by 2028 under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, domestic ingot and wafer capacity is expected to remain at or below 6 GW, creating a market gap.

Trade measures recently announced by the US under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 include a 15 per cent duty and minimum import prices for polysilicon and downstream solar products such as ingots, wafers, cells, and modules. The established floor prices sit above current market rates, covering polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells, and modules.

Krishnan stated that this regulatory environment offers an export opportunity for Indian upstream players to supply trade-compliant, high-efficiency monocrystalline wafers directly to US domestic cell lines. The company's wafers are designed to yield cell efficiencies of up to 25.5 per cent, potentially allowing US companies to access tax incentives without supply chain risks.

"Indosol Solar's move to establish India's only operational ingot-wafer plant highlights a strategic shift toward strengthening domestic upstream capabilities ahead of regulatory timelines. By addressing critical supply chain gaps in international markets like the United States, particularly amid evolving trade policies and minimum import pricing structures, the company is positioning itself to capture high-value export opportunities. This development underscores the growing maturity of the Indian clean energy manufacturing sector and its potential to integrate into global supply chains." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes