Websol Energy secures 54-acre land in West Bengal for 4GW solar manufacturing plant

Listed solar manufacturer Websol Energy System has secured a 54-acre land parcel in West Bengal’s Falta Industrial Park as it moves ahead with plans for a greenfield solar manufacturing facility.

The planned facility would add 4 gigawatts of solar cell manufacturing capacity and 4 gigawatts of solar panel (module) manufacturing capacity, built in two phases of 2 gigawatts each. That would represent a major increase from the company's current capacity of 1,200 megawatts for cells and 550 megawatts for modules.

The expansion comes as India works to build up domestic solar manufacturing to meet the country's growing renewable energy needs and reduce reliance on imported components, mainly from China.


Sohan Lal Agarwal, the company's chairman and managing director, said the land allotment marks "the next phase of a journey that began more than three decades ago in West Bengal." He said the company entered the solar manufacturing business in the mid-1990s, when the industry in India was in its early stages.

Sanjana Khaitan, the company's executive director, said the company's priority now is turning the land allotment into an operating plant. “The real focus now is execution, moving from land allotment to construction, commissioning and utilisation," she said.

Khaitan said the company aims to meet its expansion targets by 2028.

Websol is among 14 manufacturers in India approved to sell solar cells under the government's official products list, and is the only one based in eastern India, according to the company.

The company did not disclose the project's cost or how it plans to finance the expansion.

According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), a body under the commerce ministry, India’s solar manufacturing capacity is set for rapid expansion, with domestic module and cell capacities expected to reach 200 GW and 100 GW, respectively, by FY28.