Inside India’s Solar Ascent: How Domestic Demand and Global Shifts Are Forging a Green Titan 

Despite facing new U.S. tariffs and the immense challenge of competing with China, which dominates over 80% of global solar component manufacturing, India’s solar industry is demonstrating remarkable resilience by leveraging its massive domestic market. Driven by ambitious government policies, falling costs that make solar power cheaper than coal, and an insatiable appetite for electricity, India’s homegrown manufacturers are pivoting to meet local demand. This strategic shift, fueled by government subsidies and import restrictions, has led to a dramatic doubling of manufacturing capacity, allowing the industry to absorb potential export losses and continue its ascent, even as it still grapples with dependencies on Chinese raw materials in its supply chain.

Inside India’s Solar Ascent: How Domestic Demand and Global Shifts Are Forging a Green Titan 

Introduction: The Jaipur Epicenter 

On the sun-baked outskirts of Jaipur, a city famed for its historic palaces and vibrant culture, a different kind of monument to the future is rising. Here, within the humming, sprawling complex of ReNew’s solar manufacturing plant, the blueprint for India’s energy independence is being written one solar cell at a time. This facility, producing enough modules annually to power 2.5 million homes, is the physical embodiment of a national ambition: to transform from a clean energy importer into a global solar manufacturing titan capable of competing with China. 

This ambition is being tested and tempered in the fires of global geopolitics. The recent imposition of 50% tariffs on Indian goods by the Trump administration could have been a crippling blow for an industry that, until recently, relied on the lucrative U.S. market. Yet, instead of stalling, India’s solar sector is finding an unexpected source of resilience—its own immense and growing appetite for clean power. This is the story of how a nation is turning inward to power its outward ambitions. 

The Dual Challenge: Competing with a Giant and Navigating Tariffs 

India’s solar journey is a classic underdog narrative. The nation faces a Goliath in China, which controls over 80% of the global solar manufacturing supply chain, from raw polysilicon to finished panels. For years, Indian developers were dependent on cheaper Chinese imports to meet their project goals, leaving domestic manufacturers struggling to compete on price. 

Simultaneously, the industry enjoyed a prosperous export relationship with the United States. Selling high-margin products abroad provided Indian companies with the capital to invest in modernizing their factories and supply chains, gradually reducing their own reliance on Chinese components. 

The new U.S. tariffs threatened to sever this vital artery. However, in a twist of fate, the very policies designed to boost domestic manufacturing have now created a safety net. The potential loss of the U.S. market is being offset by a surge in local demand, showcasing a strategic pivot that few could have predicted would be this robust. 

The Engine of Growth: Policy, Demand, and Falling Costs 

India’s domestic solar boom isn’t an accident; it’s the result of a perfect storm of converging factors: 

• Ambitious Government Policy: The Indian government has been instrumental through a multi-pronged approach: 

• Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes: Billions of dollars in subsidies have been allocated to manufacturers like ReNew to build scale and achieve cost competitiveness. 

• Import Barriers: Policies like the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) mandate that government-backed solar projects use domestically produced equipment, creating a guaranteed market. 

• Colossal Renewable Targets: The national goal of installing 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030—most of it solar—sends an unambiguous signal to investors and industry: build, and the demand will come. 

• Irresistible Economics: The cost of solar power in India has plummeted, now standing at roughly half the cost of energy from new coal-fired power plants. This isn’t just a green choice; it’s the most economically rational one for power distribution companies and large industrial consumers. 

• An Insatiable Appetite for Electricity: As the world’s most populous nation and a rapidly growing economy, India’s hunger for electricity is immense. Solar power represents the fastest way to connect millions to the grid and power industrial growth without exacerbating already critical air pollution levels or inflating fossil fuel import bills. 

Sanjay Verghese, ReNew’s group president, succinctly captures the sentiment: “We are in a good phase right now. We are highly dependent on policy support, but we expect that momentum to be maintained.” 

The Human Element: Independence Powered by the Sun 

Beyond gigawatts and tariffs, this transition is profoundly human. For engineers like Monisha, who uses only one name, working at the ReNew plant is more than a job; it’s a point of pride and empowerment. 

“When I got this opportunity, I was really happy that I was directly contributing to the clean energy transition,” she says. Her work has afforded her financial independence, allowing her to support her family—a personal story mirrored across the burgeoning industry. These roles represent a new wave of skilled employment in a green economy, offering a tangible stake in the country’s sustainable future. 

The Persistent Hurdle: Untangling the Supply Chain from China 

Despite the explosive growth in module and cell production, India’s Achilles’ heel remains its supply chain. The country still imports vast quantities of raw materials, including polysilicon, silver paste, and specialty glass, as well as machinery from China. 

Government data shows a promising trend—imports of solar cells and modules from China fell by over a third in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous year—but the dependency on upstream materials persists. India lacks the infrastructure to mine and process critical minerals at the scale needed. 

The path forward, as analysts like Neshwin Rodrigues from Ember suggest, is a phased approach. By 2030, India could achieve self-sufficiency in producing everything except perhaps polysilicon, focusing first on mastering cell and module manufacturing before tackling the more capital-intensive raw material processing. 

The Vega Solar Example: A Microcosm of the Macro Shift 

The story of Hyderabad-based Vega Solar provides a perfect microcosm of the industry’s broader shift. Director Vinay Keesara witnessed his customer base completely invert. “Before the pandemic, 90% of my business was exports and 10% used to be domestic supply. Now this has just flipped the other way around,” he notes. 

His company produces off-grid solar modules for RVs, electric fences, and other applications. This domestic diversification highlights a critical insight: India’s solar demand isn’t monolithic. It’s a multi-layered market ranging from utility-scale gigawatt projects to commercial and industrial rooftops to innovative off-grid solutions, each creating opportunities for manufacturers of all sizes. 

Looking Ahead: A Steep but Illuminated Climb 

The road ahead for India’s solar industry is undeniably steep. The U.S. tariff situation remains fluid, with legal challenges ongoing. Competing with China on cost and scale in the global export market is a long-term endeavor. Building a fully integrated, domestic supply chain from mine to module will require billions in investment and years of development. 

However, the foundation for success is being laid today. With nearly 170 GW of renewable projects in the pipeline and a relentless focus on domestic manufacturing, India is creating its own gravitational pull. 

Shubhang Parekh of the National Solar Energy Federation of India acknowledges the challenge but remains confident: “The supply chains needed to process the raw materials are still a work in progress… The next few years will be critical in determining how far we can go.” 

India may not dethrone China as the global solar king overnight, but it is no longer just a bystander. It is building a self-sustaining ecosystem powered by its own sun and its own people. In doing so, it is crafting a powerful new model for how developing nations can leverage clean energy to achieve industrial growth, energy security, and geopolitical resilience—all on their own terms. The factory floors of Jaipur are just the beginning.