By Sethuraman N R
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Initial public offering-bound Indian solar panel maker Emmvee Photovoltaic Power plans to invest about 55 billion rupees ($625.75 million) to expand its manufacturing capacity, betting on the robust domestic demand, a top executive said.
The company, which has 7.8 gigawatts of module capacity, will add 2.5 GW of modules by the end of this year and plans to expand it to 16.3 GW by the first half of 2028
Emmvee is also looking to expand its 2.94 GW of cell manufacturing to 8.94 GW by the first half of 2028.
The company will open its 29 billion rupee IPO on November 11 and aims to use the net proceeds to pay off a long-term debt of around 16.21 billion rupees.
The manufacturing expansion will be funded by a mix of 60% debt and 40% equity, and the company has secured a 33 billion rupee loan from the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, CEO Suhas Donthi told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
Emmvee joins major industry players in India in expanding their renewable manufacturing capacity recently, as the South Asian nation targets 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030.
“The domestic market remains the priority, and export opportunities could be tapped depending on global conditions,” Donthi said.
U.S. tariffs of up to 50% on solar panel shipments from India, along with potential anti-dumping duties, are expected to add pressure to India’s module makers next year, according to analysts.
However, Donthi said that there is only significant installed manufacturing capacity on paper, and the market is highly fragmented.
“Solar project developers tend to prefer reliable and high-quality suppliers, which gives Emmvee a competitive edge,” he said.
($1 = 87.8950 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
