India proposes local solar ingots and wafers rule to cut Chinese imports

India is proposing that clean energy firms use only locally made solar ingots and wafers from June 2028, the country’s renewable energy ministry said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at curbing Chinese imports.

With this, the South Asian country is looking to ensure the usage of domestically made components across the entire solar panel manufacturing chain.

India currently has a manufacturing capacity of about 2 gigawatt (GW) for ingots and wafers.

Companies including Waaree Energies, Tata Power and Indosol Solar have proposed billions of rupees of investments to build renewable manufacturing capacity as India aims to double its non-fossil fuel-based power capacity to 500 GW by 2030, reported Reuters.

The government has already mandated the usage of locally assembled solar panels in state-run projects even though components like cells, wafers, ingots and polysilicon could be imported.

India currently relies entirely on China for its imports of cells, ingots, wafers and poly silicon for solar panels.

The country has also directed the use of domestically made solar cells from June 2026.

(With inputs from agencies)