As many as 16 companies have become eligible for the Rs 4,500-crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for solar panel manufacturing, sources said. According to their rankings, the top five firms in the list are Jindal India Solar Energy, Shirdi Sai Electricals, Reliance New Energy Solar, Adani Infrastructure and FS India Solar Ventures.
However, it was not immediately clear how much incentive the companies will receive under the scheme. The incentives sought by the top three firms in the list cross the initially earmarked corpus of Rs 4,500 crore.
According to government sources, the Union ministry of new and renewable energy has sought an additional Rs 18,000 crore from Centre for the solar PLI scheme, and “if that money is provided, then almost all successful participants can be accommodated”.
The government is said to have taken no final call on this matter yet. Apart from FS India Solar, all the companies mentioned above have promised to set up 4,000 MW of solar manufacturing capacity under the scheme. Other successful firms in the ranking list with 4,000 MW manufacturing capacity addition pledge are Coal India Ltd, L&T, ReNew Power, Tata Power Solar and Waaree Energies.
The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, in May-end, had invited applications from solar module manufacturers for availing the PLI scheme.
The Cabinet had cleared the scheme on March 31. The beneficiaries of the PLI scheme were to be selected through competitive bidding, evaluated on the basis of manufacturing capacity proposed to be set up by companies and the extent of elementary products required for manufacturing solar panels they promise to make in the country.
The applicants are required to setup either brownfield or greenfield manufacturing facilities allotted under the scheme.