Solar manufacturing in India — VVP Solar's view from Gujarat
Why I think the next decade of Indian solar manufacturing will be defined in Gujarat — and the operating choices we made to participate in it.
The conversation about Indian solar manufacturing has been dominated for years by the trade-balance narrative — too much imported Chinese cell and module supply, not enough domestic capacity. That narrative is finally being met by real on-ground capacity expansion, and a meaningful share of it is being built in Gujarat. VVP Solar Pvt. Ltd., our group's solar manufacturing and EPC venture, is one of the players inside that wave. Here's how I think about it.
Why Gujarat
Three structural advantages put Gujarat at the centre of Indian solar manufacturing. One — port access. Mundra and Pipavav handle the equipment, glass, EVA and raw-material imports that solar cell and module manufacturing depends on. Two — state-level policy. Gujarat has been the most receptive state to solar policy in India for over a decade — both for generation and now for manufacturing. Three — entrepreneurial ecosystem. Saurashtra in particular has produced more first-generation Indian manufacturing families than any other region in the country. The instinct for operations runs deep here.
Manufacturing alone is not the win
Setting up a solar module line in 2026 has become commoditised — equipment is available, financing is available, the PLI scheme is structured. The real differentiator is whether the manufacturing connects to a working EPC arm and a deployment partner. VVP Solar's bet was to build manufacturing alongside EPC capability, with Sahayog Energy as the deployment partner. Modules made at VVP Solar's line end up on Indian rooftops installed by Sahayog Energy's network. The vertical integration is the operating thesis.
PLI realities
The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for solar PV manufacturing is a substantial tailwind, but it is not free money. The compliance work is significant — capacity utilisation thresholds, ALMM listing, BIS certification, vertical integration commitments. Operators who go in expecting a subsidy stream and discover they have signed up for a manufacturing discipline they weren't ready for tend to underperform. The PLI scheme rewards real operators; it does not subsidise tourism in the sector.
The next decade
India will, on current policy trajectories, reach 280 GW of installed solar capacity by 2030 — versus roughly 90 GW today. The annual addition required is 25–30 GW. Even with PLI-driven domestic capacity expansion, the gap between Indian demand and Indian-made cell/module supply will remain wide for years. That is the runway. Operators with manufacturing capacity that can serve organised installers (Sahayog Energy and similar) will compound revenue and margin together — and far more durably than the pure trading or pure-EPC players competing on price alone.
Our group is participating in that runway from Gujarat, with the operating discipline the region has refined over generations. That is the next decade I see.
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First-generation Indian industrialist. Founder of Sahayog Energy and a group of ventures spanning solar, manufacturing, agri-inputs and trading.