Govt. working on additional subsidy scheme for polysilicon manufacturing: Official

The government is working to add 30 gigawatts (GW) of polysilicon manufacturing capacity by 2030 and is working on a subsidy scheme, Santosh Sarangi, Secretary at the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, told reporters on the sidelines of an event here today.

Mr. Sarangi told reporters that a polysilicon plant along with metallurgical grade silicon requires about ₹850 crore per gigawatt of capacity.

“Keeping in mind the fact that such a large investment is required, we are working out ways to support manufacturers,” he stated.

Furthermore, Mr. Sarangi told reporters that at least 30 GW polysilicon manufacturing capacity addition would be imperative to ensure the country’s energy security and manufacturing resilience.

“We would be looking to add at least 30GW of capacity addition by 2030,” he stated.

Elaborating on the rationale for a revised scheme, the senior official stated, “Since not a very huge capacity from there [the existing production-linked incentive scheme for polysilicon], we are planning another scheme which would provide some kind of subsidy for polysilicon [manufacturing].”

Separately, Mr. Sarangi stated that projects with plain solar are unlikely to find buyers, as approximately 42 gigawatts of planned capacity are yet to have offtake agreements.

This includes 18 GW of solar-only projects alongside about 15 gigawatts of capacity secured at high prices.