Tata Power CEO: India's Tata prefers the domestic market to lucrative solar exports

Tata Power’s newly constructed 4.3 gigawatts (GW) solar cell and module manufacturing facility in southern India is mainly aimed at domestic markets, according to its chief executive, despite the fact that exports have increased exponentially.

Tata Power is one of India's largest integrated power companies. It has invested 508 million dollars in a new facility for the production of solar cells and modules in Tamil Nadu.

"We will be setting up this factory to serve the Indian market" This country is a huge opportunity. "Whatever we produce over here in the next 12 to sixteen months is already bound up (with projects),", Praveer Sinha said on Friday, at the new 317-acre plant.

Solar module and cell makers are trying to tap into the United States market. The United States is the second largest solar consumer in the world after China.

According to a study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the export of Indian modules increased more than 23-fold in the past two years. The United States accounted for over 97% of India’s exports.

India currently has 80 GW of solar module production capacity, but its cell capacity is just over 7 GW. Indian companies are relying on Chinese modules for their modules.

According to SPV Market Research, China is responsible for 80% of all solar shipments in the world, while its hubs of export are located throughout Asia.

Sinha stated that Tata Power could add 4 GW to its cell and module production at the new Tamil Nadu facility, but would decide later on how much capacity it will increase.

Sinha stated that the company's revenue target is to reach 1 trillion rupees by 2030. This compares to 615 billion rupees for the fiscal year ending March 2024.

Tata Power aims to double its annual profits to 100 billion rupees, he added.

Tata Power has planned a capital investment of almost 1.46 trillion rupees from 2024-25 to 2029-30, with 60% going towards renewable energy. (Reporting and editing by David Evans; Sethuraman N.R., Praveen Paramasivam)

(source: Reuters)