PVTIME – Agastya Green Energy, which is part of the Anubhav Agarwal Group, has unveiled a landmark photovoltaic production scheme in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The company plans to build an integrated ingot and wafer manufacturing facility in the Orvakal Industrial Area in Kurnool. The total proposed investment is INR 780 billion (equivalent to USD 815.8 million or RMB 5.49 billion). Each of the ingot and wafer production lines is sized at 12GW.
This upstream site is designed to complement Agastya’s previously announced 5GW cell and module capacity. Construction will begin with an initial phase delivering 2GW each of solar cells and modules, with further capacity additions to be rolled out in response to market signals and viable expansion opportunities. Once fully operational, the project will enable the firm to establish a complete domestic value chain, covering ingot, wafer, cell, and module production, as well as coordinated IPP and EPC activities.
Senior leadership from the parent group and Agastya have outlined the strategic rationale behind the investment. Anubhav Agarwal, Chairman of AAG, explained that this substantial financial commitment demonstrates the group’s long-term confidence in India’s energy transition. He added that expanded homegrown manufacturing is critical to meeting rising national power demand, reducing import exposure, and building a resilient energy system over the coming decades.
Piyush Bijoria, Director of Agastya Green Energy, noted that ingot and wafer output forms a foundational component of the company’s integrated strategy, and that aligned cell and module capacity is set to increase the value of the domestic supply chain and foster cross-operational synergies. Bernhard Lack, the Chief Executive Officer, added that the need for robust, scalable and internationally competitive solar manufacturing is being driven by global clean-energy demand, and that this development represents a meaningful advance towards establishing India as a global renewable-energy production hub.
The investment is timed to coincide with significant changes to national solar policy. In March 2026, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy introduced List-III, bringing ingots and wafers under the Approved Models and Manufacturers regime. From 1 June 2028, all ALMM-compliant solar projects must source wafers exclusively from List-III registered suppliers. Wafer manufacturers are also required to hold matching ingot capacity. This regulation extends supply-chain traceability obligations across the entire four-tier production process, from ingots to finished modules.
Domestic wafer manufacturing remains underdeveloped in India, and the sector continues to rely heavily on imported supplies. Agastya’s 12GW wafer development project partially satisfies the MNRE activation threshold for List III, which requires a minimum combined capacity of 15GW from at least three producers. This puts the company in a favourable position to secure accreditation ahead of the 2028 compliance deadline.
In recent years, India’s solar industry has steadily expanded from module assembly into cell fabrication, while wafer capacity has remained a key supply bottleneck. Agastya’s decision to move directly into ingot and wafer production reflects a wider strategy among domestic private investors to pursue vertically integrated operational models that have reduced manufacturing costs elsewhere in the world.
In terms of the global supply chain, rising Indian upstream capacity may gradually reduce dependence on imported wafers, while generating new commercial opportunities for providers of equipment, consumables, and engineering services.
However, industry stakeholders warn that large-scale 12GW ingot-wafer developments are capital-intensive, energy-heavy and subject to extended implementation timelines. The actual delivery of projects will be shaped by four core factors, including land and electricity costs, import schedules for critical production hardware, the official release timeline for ALMM List-III, and corresponding growth in downstream cell and module demand. However, announced capacity does not equate to operational output, and the phased delivery schedule leading up to 2028 will require ongoing monitoring.
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