In view of the global glut, Shan Solar has decided to shelve its Rs 720 crore project for manufacturing polysilicon cells.
The project was to come up near Shan Solar's module-making plant in the Sri City industrial estate, 55 km north of Chennai.
The company is not likely to revisit the plan at least until June 2012, Mr C. Suryaprasad, CEO and Joint Managing Director, Shan Solar, told
The shelving of the project underlines the state of Indian solar power equipment manufacturing in India. The country's two biggest manufacturers, Tata BP Solar and Indosolar, are lying shut for want of orders — ironically at a time when a Rs 80,000-crore National Solar Mission is being rolled out in the country.
As for Shan Solar, it has just commissioned its Rs 80-crore module plant, capable of delivering 30 MW worth of modules.
It had intended to go a step down the value chain and also put up a cell plant which calls for a large investment.
Mr Suryaprasad said the module plant has just gone on stream and the company has picked up some orders from Europe. However, the plant is not operating to its full capacity.
Indian manufacturers are unable to compete with the products arriving in from China and the US and they have asked the Government to impose a 15 per cent duty on imported modules and cells.
Indian companies allege that while the Chinese are dumping (selling below cost), the Americans — especially companies like First Solar that are in the ‘thin film' technology — are able to grab the market because they are backed by ultra low interest credit from the US Exim Bank.