Premier Energies to invest Rs 6,000 crore in solar by 2028

What Premier Energies announced and why it matters

Premier Energies plans to invest around Rs 6,000 crore over the next three years to build silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing capabilities, according to a senior company official. The move is aimed at backward integration, taking the Hyderabad-based solar manufacturer closer to becoming a fully integrated player in India’s solar value chain. The investment is part of a broader Rs 12,500 crore capital expenditure programme over three years. That larger plan also includes expanding solar cell and module capacity and entering adjacent equipment segments such as inverters, batteries, and transformers.

The announcement comes as India’s policy framework increasingly pushes domestic sourcing of upstream solar components. For manufacturers, controlling upstream supply of wafers and ingots can reduce dependence on imports and improve visibility in procurement and production planning. Premier Energies’ plan also sets a timeline that matches the government’s next phase of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) requirements.

Rs 12,500 crore capex plan and capacity targets

Vinay Rustagi, Chief Business Officer at Premier Energies, told PTI the company’s capex plan totals Rs 12,500 crore and includes more than doubling capacity in key lines. The company has indicated it plans to scale solar cell capacity to 10.6 gigawatt and module capacity to 11.1 gigawatt. Alongside capacity additions, Premier Energies is also looking at new product categories including inverters, batteries and transformers.

Separately, the company has discussed commissioning timelines for advanced cell technologies. The provided disclosures also reference a 7 GW TOPCon cell line commissioning target by August 2026. Another update said a 1.2 GW TOPCon line is expected to reach full utilisation by December 2025, and that total cell capacity is targeted to reach 10.6 GW by September 2026.

Ingot and wafer investment: Rs 6,000 crore by 2028

Premier Energies’ backward integration plan centres on a proposed ingot and wafer facility with about Rs 6,000 crore of capex over the next three years, with readiness targeted by 2028. Rustagi said the capacity is being set up primarily for captive consumption, with the company also planning to sell wafers in the open market. The company’s rationale is closely tied to the government’s policy roadmap, which, according to Rustagi, indicates that from 2028 onwards ingots and wafers consumed in India will need to be domestically made.

In another disclosure in the provided material, Premier Energies announced a plan to invest about INR 5,900 crore to set up a 10 GW ingot-wafer manufacturing line at Naidupeta in Andhra Pradesh. That update also stated that the first 5 GW phase is targeted for commissioning by December 2027, and that land acquisition has been completed with design work underway and construction having begun.

Project location: Andhra Pradesh land allotment at Naidupeta

Rustagi said the project has been approved by the Andhra Pradesh government, which has provided 200 acres of land at Naidupeta, around 45 minutes from Tirupati. He added that the company plans to set up 10 GW of ingot capacity and 10 GW of wafer capacity at the site, and that work is expected to begin soon.

The provided material also contains a separate land detail from the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, stating that 269.71 acres have been granted, with 169.71 acres already allotted and an additional 100 acres granted in-principle. This site is described as accommodating a 4 GW Solar PV TOPCon cell manufacturing line along with a 5 GW silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing facility, supporting the company’s backward integration strategy.

ALMM and the policy trigger behind upstream manufacturing

A key policy development cited in the material is MNRE’s March 18 decision to include ingots and wafers in the ALMM framework, which earlier covered modules and cells. The stated objective is to strengthen the local solar manufacturing ecosystem and boost domestic usage.

The ALMM List-III for ingots and wafers is set to take effect from June 1, 2028. Premier Energies has explicitly linked its investment timeline to this policy roadmap, positioning its ingot-wafer ramp-up to align with the 2028 effective date.

Scaling cells and modules: ongoing commissioning and trial runs

Beyond upstream capacity, Premier Energies has been expanding module and cell manufacturing. The material states the company has commissioned a 1.4 GW TOPCon module manufacturing line. It also says Premier Energies has commissioned its 5.6 GW solar module manufacturing facility at Seetharampur, Telangana, with trial production commenced. That facility is spread across 75 acres and is expected to create around 2,000 jobs.

Another update in the provided data said Premier Energies commissioned a 400 megawatt solar cell manufacturing facility in Telangana as part of an expansion plan. Across these announcements, the common thread is a push to build larger domestic manufacturing scale while preparing for the next stage of import substitution in upstream components.

Diversification: inverters, batteries, transformers, and partnerships

The company’s capex roadmap includes foraying into inverters, batteries and transformers. The provided material also notes that Premier Energies is entering solar inverter manufacturing with Syrma SGS. While specific capacity numbers for Premier Energies’ inverter line are not provided in the text, the diversification signals an attempt to expand beyond cells and modules into balance-of-system equipment.

Such moves can help manufacturers participate in a broader share of project value, although execution depends on technology qualification, customer approvals, and consistent delivery performance.

Order momentum and demand signals

The material states Premier Energies has secured orders to supply 1,600 MW of solar cells and modules worth Rs 2,577 crore (₹25.77 billion) in the fourth quarter of FY2026. This provides a near-term demand indicator as the company simultaneously pursues multi-year capex.

Management commentary in the provided information also describes domestic solar demand as robust, without offering additional quantified demand forecasts. The company has also referred to a target of achieving 10 GW of integrated capacity across ingots, wafers, cells, and modules by FY2028.

Peer comparison: Waaree Energies’ manufacturing expansion plans

The broader sector context includes aggressive expansion plans from other Indian solar manufacturers. The provided text says Waaree Energies is expanding into cells, ingots, wafers, battery energy storage systems, inverters, transformers and green hydrogen electrolyzers.

Waaree’s targets, as stated, include 28 GW of module manufacturing capacity, 15.4 GW of cell capacity, 10 GW of ingot-wafer capacity, 20 GWh of battery storage, 4 GW of inverter capacity, 20,000 MVA of transformer capacity, and 1 GW of electrolyzer capacity. The comparison highlights how multiple Indian players are building end-to-end capabilities in response to policy direction and supply-chain risk.

Key announced figures at a glance

Market impact: what changes for the domestic solar supply chain

The most direct market implication from the announcement is capacity being built ahead of a policy deadline. With ALMM List-III for ingots and wafers effective from June 1, 2028, Premier Energies’ stated plan to be ready by 2028 aligns its upstream investment with expected compliance needs. If ingots and wafers are required to be domestically made for India consumption, upstream facilities can become an operational requirement rather than a strategic optionality for large manufacturers.

On the demand side, the reported Rs 2,577 crore order book for 1,600 MW of cells and modules in Q4 FY2026 indicates continued customer procurement, which can support utilisation as new lines ramp up. On the supply side, backward integration may reduce reliance on imported wafers, but the article information does not quantify cost savings or margins. The company’s plan to sell wafers in the open market also suggests it is considering demand beyond captive use, although no volumes or customer commitments were disclosed.

Why this investment matters for investors and policy watchers

Premier Energies’ Rs 6,000 crore upstream capex is significant because ingot and wafer manufacturing has been slower to develop in India compared with modules and cells, as reflected in the material noting slow progress in upstream segments under the PLI framework. The company is explicitly linking investment timing to the government’s policy roadmap, indicating that regulation is a key driver of capital allocation decisions.

The decision to co-locate the silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing facility with solar PV cell operations is also relevant from an execution standpoint. Co-location can simplify logistics and potentially support tighter process control, although the text does not provide quantified operating metrics. The change in location for a 4 GW TOPCon cell line to Naidupeta, as described in the material, further underlines how project design and site strategy are being adjusted around the backward integration plan.

Conclusion

Premier Energies is stepping up its manufacturing expansion with a Rs 12,500 crore capex plan that includes Rs 6,000 crore for ingot and wafer capacity by 2028. The company is positioning the project at Naidupeta, Andhra Pradesh, in line with MNRE’s ALMM expansion to ingots and wafers, effective June 1, 2028. In the near term, the company continues to commission and ramp TOPCon-related capacity while reporting fresh orders for cells and modules. The next milestones to watch are project execution at Naidupeta and the commissioning targets leading up to 2027-2028.