Shirdi Sai Electricals’ CMD Visweswara Reddy, ET EnergyWorld
Three years back, the company had announced plans to get into Solar PV Module manufacturing, with a 5 Gigawatt ingots-to-module capacity plant and also setting up 12 Gigawatt polysilicon capacity. What is the current status?
The work is going on in full swing. We have made a lot of progress, acquired clarity. The Solar PV module manufacturing plant is being set up at an investment of about Rs 69,000 crore with a capacity of 30 Gigawatts with approximately 90,000 metric tonnes of polysilicon, and the associated Metallurgical silica. There is 20 Gigawatt capacity being set up downstream from ingot to module, with a 3,600 TPD capacity of glass and a desalination facility of 200 MLD, which comes to approximately Rs 69,000 crore, as I mentioned. In the initial phase, we had applied for a smaller downstream capacity. Currently, we have a module plant on the ground. We are confident that by December of this calendar year, we will begin commercial production of 1 Gigawatt ingot to module plant. Furthermore, another 5 Gigawatts of the same ingot to module plant, along with glass will be launched for continuous production by June-July of 2026.Parallelly, we will be starting the production of Polysilicon, possibly after six months. The groundwork for polysilicon is substantially completed, and we are now nearing the completion of detailed engineering. Before moving to basic engineering, we got everything checked with a company called Wood inc in the USA and then we did the basic engineering for polysilicon. This process took over one-and-a-half years to complete because we needed to be very careful about technology, processes, and safety when dealing with polysilicon. In this entire matrix, the difficult part is dealing with polysilicon and ingot pulling, wafer cutting is relatively easier. We have partnered with the best equipment suppliers and technology partners globally to address these challenges.There is a lot of focus on PLI to boost solar equipment manufacturing in India. What has been your experience? How best to deal with imports from China?
It is taking some time mainly because the technology is new and also the Chinese government has imposed restrictions on Chinese manufacturers and suppliers transferring technology to India. We cannot rely entirely on Chinese technology or Chinese people. There are two crucial reasons for this, first is the safety and geopolitical concerns and second is that we will always face intense competition from China as this entire segment is largely built around Chinese placement. We need to be cautious and careful on these aspects of technology, especially with the influx of people from China. Everyone is aware that this technology, particularly in module manufacturing and polysilicon technology, has been developed in China over the last 10 to 12 years. Other parts of the world have not built mega plants like China has. Most importantly, if we want to compete with China, the cost of power becomes very crucial as it accounts for more than 15 per cent of the production cost. To compete with China, we need to control power costs, which means either the government subsidizes the power or one generates their own power via renewable energy at a cheaper price.Companies that have won PLI bids have committed to two things – to be present across the value chain, from polysilicon to ingots and modules, and ensuring 90-95 per cent of local sourcing. Why should China be a problem then?
What we are doing is focusing on India, and competition from China is not a problem for us. The only thing we need to manage is power cost. If that is managed, we are good. That is the key factor, as Quartz which is required for metallurgical silicon, is abundantly available in India. In fact, quartz used by companies in China which is used to make Solar PV modules, is being exported from India. What we need for this process are wood chips and low-ash coal. Instead of low-ash coal, we are trying to use charcoal, like some South American and European countries, for making metallurgical silicon, as the ash content is lower. As getting low-ash coal is difficult as it is not available in India, we need to import it from South Africa or Australia.
Overall, our import costs will not be high. A lot of companies are building factories to produce glass to meet the growing demand, and we are also starting to manufacture our own glass to make our modules more competitive for the Indian market as well as to eliminate logistic issues for glass transport on daily basis. Initially, the power cost may a bit higher, however the ultimate goal is to reduce the power cost to less than Rs 2 per unit which is in line with Honourable Prime Minister Modi ji’s vision. Beyond interest costs, we can definitely meet this target by the end of first seven years of commercial production and our module prices will significantly come down, making it more competitive.
What is the status of land acquisition at the module manufacturing project site?
We are setting up the Solar PV module manufacturing plant, part of Indosol Solar, at Ramayapatnam Port, near Nellore, which is the south side of Andhra Pradesh. The Honorable Chief Minister and his office are actively working with us on the project and are handing over the land in stages. We are expecting the next parcel of land to be handed over in May, 2025. We are working along with the government. The honourable CM Chandrababu Naidu is a visionary and wants to bring in more industries, and we need to cooperate with him to move forward.
What is the company’s larger vision on the solar front? SSEL was earlier in 2022 looking at becoming a $1 billion company within 3-4 years. What is the status today?
Our Vision is to initially manufacture 15 Gigawatt (of solar module) and another 15 Gigawatt of Polysilicon. For modules, we are aiming for about 15 Gigawatt capacity, and we want to manufacture wafers and sell them to the market, so that other manufacturers can also produce and develop the ecosystem and that is our plan for now. Last financial year, we had a PAT of Rs 630 crore, and the total revenue was around Rs 3,860 crore. This financial year too we will be at a similar level, and next financial year, we will be doing more. This is just for Shirdi Sai Electricals’ business emanating out of our manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh. This is not including our listed company i.e. Indo Tech Transformers Limited. With respect to our manufacturing facility in Uttar Pradesh, we are targeting a revenue of over Rs 300 crore this year and next year we will reach Rs 750 crore and subsequently our revenue will grow to Rs 1,500 crore. In four years, we will reach $1 billion in revenue, and that target is achievable. This obviously does not include our SPV Indosol Solar Private Limited.
