Avaada to start India’s largest solar cell mfg plant in Nagpur next month

Nagpur: Renewable energy firm Avaada Group is set to commence solar cell manufacturing at its Nagpur facility by next month. The plant, with a production capacity equivalent to generating 6,000MW of power, will be the largest of its kind in India, said company's chairman Vineet Mittal. While there are other players that have either begun or are planning to enter cell manufacturing, none currently exceed a capacity of 4,000 MW, he added.Avaada Electro, the group entity that operates Nagpur unit, is also preparing for an initial public offering (IPO). So far, the project has been funded through private equity investments of approximately Rs10,500 crore, along with debt raised from global institutions. Mittal indicated that a fresh debt arrangement is expected to be announced soon. Although the IPO process has been initiated, the company will disclose the size of the issue at a later stage.The Nagpur project, involving an overall investment of Rs13,000 crore, already includes a solar module manufacturing capacity of 7,000 MW. Modules are composed of multiple cells, which have so far largely been imported, primarily from China. With the start of domestic cell production, the company aims to significantly reduce import dependence. Over the next year, Avaada plans to integrate the entire manufacturing chain - from polysilicon to ingots, wafers, cells, and modules - by adding each stage progressively, Mittal said.The company has around 3,200 employees at its Nagpur plant.Currently, Avaada manufactures solar panels using imported cells. By December, the company expects its Nagpur unit to handle the entire production cycle, from ingot manufacturing to finished modules.In addition, Avaada plans to establish a separate unit in Nagpur to manufacture solar glass from sand, further localising the supply chain. Sand sourced from Gadchiroli is being evaluated as a potential raw material for this purpose.Out of the planned Rs13,500 crore investment for the Nagpur facility, around Rs5,000 crore have already been deployed. The company has acquired 250 acres at the additional Butibori industrial estate and is in the process of securing another 250-acre land parcel to support future expansion, he said.The company is also upgrading its product portfolio. Currently producing panels with a 720-watt peak capacity, Avaada plans to introduce higher-efficiency modules ranging from 740 to 800 watts, enabling greater power generation from smaller land areas.At present, India's renewable energy consumption stands at around 1 lakh MW, sourced from a mix of generation methods and procured by state-run utilities such as MSEDCL, Mittal noted.Today, Avaada operates 8.5 GW of advanced N-type TOPCon solar module manufacturing capacity across the country. The company is planning to expand it to total 13.6 GW.