Goldi Solar mulls manufacturing capacity expansion to 2.5 GW

Domestic solar components manufacturer Goldi Solar on Monday said it will invest Rs 750 crore to expand capacity to 2,500 MW from 500 MW by the end of the current fiscal. The expansion will be completed in two phases - reaching 1,000 MW by Q2 of FY22 and the remaining over the following two quarters, the Surat-based company said.

“The facility expansion comes amid growing global demand for better technology and value from the solar panels,” said Bharat Bhut, cofounder and director of Goldi Solar. India relies on imported solar equipment for more than 85% of its needs. But with sentiment against imports growing fast, the sector offers a good opportunity for players like Goldi Solar to fill the gap.

While a safeguard duty of 14.5% applies to imports from China, the Centre has also imposed a basic customs duty of 25% on cells and 40% on modules from April, 2022. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) under the commerce ministry is also mulling additional anti-dumping duty. The decade-old manufacturer has also applied to receive funds from the government's Rs 4,500-crore productivity-linked incentive scheme to fund its capacity expansion plan, Goldi's founder and managing director Ishver Dholakiya told ET.


The company hopes to reach 5 GW capacity by 2025. "We have aggressive plans for Goldi’s growth and are looking to expand our manufacturing capacity to 5 GW," said Bhut. The company hopes to achieve backward integration through these expansion plans.