25 November 2025
Business Standard
Interviews
Q&A: Energy Global Plc (ReNew) recently announced fresh investments of ₹60,000 crore ($6.7 billion) to set up green energy projects in Andhra Pradesh. Sumant Sinha, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of ReNew, speaks to Shine Jacob in an interaction on the bigger plan, the company’s foray into wafer manufacturing, and concerns in the transmission segment. Edited excerpts:
With fresh plans, your total investments in Andhra Pradesh come to around ₹82,000 crore ($9.3billion). How do you view the state’s potential to absorb these investments?
· There are a
few reasons why we chose Andhra Pradesh for our investments. It is blessed with
good renewable energy resources. There hasn’t been much penetration of wind and
solar in the state so far. In addition to that, it is blessed with dynamic and
supportive leadership. They have ensured that all the issues one faces in
getting approvals and navigating through the system are taken care of in a
speedy manner through a single-window clearance mindset. They have been very
proactive in addressing our priorities like allocation of land, and in lining
up good incentives. Of the ₹82,000 crore
investment pipeline, we are already working on a ₹22,000 crore
project. In the additional investment, the 6 gigawatt (GW) ingot-wafer plant is
likely to be set up closer to Visakhapatnam. The green hydrogen plant will be
at a port, and we are discussing that with the state government. The 2 GW
pumped hydro project we will announce later, and the clean energy projects will
most likely be in the Rayalaseema area. Thus, the investment by us will be
spread across the state.
This will be your foray into ingot-wafer manufacturing. Can you elaborate on its prospects?
· For some
manufacturing, we have surplus module capacity in the country. That is the
first segment where the government asked the industry to set up capacity by
blocking Chinese imports. Today, we have almost 100 GW of module manufacturing
capacity while the demand may be around 50 GW. Cells, which are the next part
of the value chain, will see their imports stopping from next June. Today, we
have around 20 GW of cell manufacturing capacity. ReNew has a capacity of 2.5
GW out of this, and we are adding another 4 GW. We also have another 6 GW of
module capacity today. So, we have a balanced cell and module capacity. Now, the
government is saying that from 2028 onwards they want to stop imports of
wafers. This means we have to start making wafers, and that is what we are
looking at in Andhra Pradesh through this 6 GW foray. Today, nobody is making
wafers in India, and hence there is no capacity. However, the restrictions will
come only three years later. So, there is no sense in making it today as China
is making it much cheaper than you now. The capacity will come only when the
restriction comes in.
There is a concern that
this may push the solar cost up. What is your take on this?
· Today it is
already very cheap, and even as you start localising the value chain and the
cost starts going up, it will still be much cheaper than wind or even coal. So,
even if the cost goes up a little bit, in the process you indigenise the
industry, and investments and job creation happen. From a national standpoint,
it is well worth the effort. Even if the cost goes up by 15-20 paise, or from ₹2.5 to even ₹3 per unit,
if you indigenise the value chain leading to higher energy security, more job
creation, and other benefits, it is good. A lot of these projects are
grandfathered. The projects that are bid out today will be allowed to import
wafers, even if they are built in 2030 or 2031. This means the total capacity
requirement in 2028 will be much lower, and we will slowly ramp up to the full
capacity. The result is we will have a fully domestic supply chain in a few
years, and there will be no dependence on China. Globally, if anyone wants to
diversify from China, India will become a natural destination.
There were reports about
the lack of matching transmission capacity now from the renewable projects,
because of which the government is considering cancelling certain projects.
Your views on this?
· First of all,
they are not cancelling projects. Across the country, there is sufficient
transmission. The problem is everybody wants to do solar only in Rajasthan as
it is the cheapest place, and there is not sufficient transmission in Rajasthan
to serve the entire country. However, nothing prevents me from setting up a
solar project in Andhra Pradesh on the state grid and supplying it within the
state, or setting up in Gujarat and supplying it to Madhya Pradesh or Bihar.
There is sufficient transmission capacity. It is just that everybody wants to
go to just one state where you have the best or lowest cost. Other than that, I
don’t think there are any concerns with regard to transmission. The
government’s view was that people should not be sitting on LoAs (letters of
agreement), which allow them to block connectivity in some of these good states
and the PPAs (power purchase agreements) not getting signed.
