US Investment Plan: Premier Energies To Wait For More Clarity On IRA

US Investment Plan: Premier Energies To Wait For More Clarity On IRA

Indian solar module and solar cell manufacturer Premier Energies has now planned to buy more time on its investment plan in the United States (US). The firm, which has planned to start its solar cell production line in the US now wants more clarity on the benefits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) after the change of leadership.

The top management of the firm recently told its investors about this when the matter was raked up by the investors. The company, however, said that it is one of the few Indian solar cell and solar module makers that has not aimed the US market for their exports. It thus said that its export market will not be affected by the change of US leadership, unlike many other Indian solar module makers who are heavily reliant on the US for their export markets like Waaree Energies, Adani (Mundra) Solar, Rayzon, Goldi Solar and others.

“So, our exports have been not very significant for a long time now. It’s simply because of the demand for the domestic market. There is a huge domestic market demand and we are committed to the requirements in the Indian market, Chiranjeev Saluja, MD of Premier Energies told investors in the investors call.

However, the firm now is awaiting more clarity on the IRA after Donald Trump joined as the new President of the United States. This stand is now common to most of the Indian solar cell and solar module makers who had either announced opening their new manufacturing centers in the US or were about to make these announcements. These Indian firms had planned to invest in the US to garner the tax credit and other benefits under the IRA.

“So, we have not heard anything concrete that there is going to be any change in the IRA. There are kinds of rumours market news and speculation based on statements given by the various political parties when they were campaigning. So, after the government is in place now, we have to wait and watch. We have to see what kind of stance they take. As of now, there is no change,” Saluja added.

Premier Energies had earlier signed an MOU and announced setting up a gigawatt of facility along with its US partner that’s Heliene.

“Generally, as I had even told earlier in my investor meetings to construct a cell line takes about 2 to 3 years. We are just starting off now. And we will be looking at how developments happen. We are one of the few companies in solar manufacturing in India which is not dependent on the US market,” Saluja said.

The company is now among the few Indian solar cell makers who are making Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) compliant solar cells. It said that around 70-80% of its solar cell lines are in the TOPCon category. It has also planned to start the production of wafers and ingots in the coming years which is set to make it one of the very few players in the country to do so besides the other mega companies which won the PLI awards from the Indian government.

“We have entered into an agreement with a Taiwanese company to set up wafer manufacturing. The equipment for this has already been ordered and we expect, commissioning sometime in FY26 for this 2 GW wafering facility. And we will also get into backward integration to ingot subsequently once this line stabilizes. We don’t have any plans to get into polysilicon manufacturing. We will be sourcing our polysilicon from outside India,” Saluja added.