Evaluating setting up shop in US: Vikram Solar chairman

The year 2025 left India’s renewables business at the crossroads.

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On the one hang, the installation of solar panels may reach an all-time high, led by record tenders in the recent past.On the other hand, awarded tenders, of around 40 gigawatts (Gw), have failed to close power-purchase agreements with utilities. The American market, the biggest for Indian makers of solar modules, has come under high tariffs. Overcapacity in the domestic market is mounting, and shares of leading manufacturers of renewable modules are sliding, raising concerns about a ‘grahan’ (eclipse) for the solar business. Gyanesh Chaudhary, chairman and managing director, Vikram Solar, one of India’s biggest producers of solar equipment, tells S Dinakar that these concerns are misplaced and illustrates the potential of the Indian market for clean energy and that of Vikram Solar. Edited excerpts:

Can you tell us about Vikram Solar’s plans after the recent public offering?

• After being in the sector for more than two decades, the kind of energy and excitement we have seen in the past 12-15 months is unprecedented. India is on track to add 40-50 Gw (of renewables) this year. Vikram Solar is in line with this expansion. We started the year with 4.5 Gw of (module) capacity and we will end the year with more than 9.5 Gw. In some time we will add another 6 Gw. We are investing in upstream capacity in cell manufacturing. We are also looking at the storage of battery energy. Large players like us are looking at going deeper into the value chain.

And this is part of the beginning of consolidation in the sector and also following through with the government's mandate.