Solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing is one of the strategic sectors declared by the government and India has the opportunity to be the global hub for this, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant stated. Speaking on a virtual conference on 'India PV Edge 2020: Re- Define What is Possible', Kant mentioned that the government is self-confident of building competence, capabilities and capacities, especially in the sunrise areas of growth.

He further stated."Solar PV manufacturing is one of the strategic sectors announced by the government India as part of the post-COVID-19 Aatmanirbhar Bharat recovery initiative. Efforts are ongoing to make India a global hub for solar PV manufacturing".

The Niti Aayog CEO said India with its enormous market and related manufacturing advantages can be a giga-scale manufacturing destination for the cutting-edge PV technologies across the entire value chain.

Kant also conveyed hope that PV technology developments will surpass general market expectations and will be the key anchor on the way to reducing the solar deployment costs.

Also while speaking at the event, Rajiv Kumar, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman said India has a 31 gigawatts (GW) demand from government-sponsored schemes that need locally made solar panels and a large 300 GW target over the next 10 years.

Kumar advised the PV manufacturing industry to make use of this large demand to invest in state-of-the-art manufacturing lines and join forces with start-ups and research institutions to carry on to upsurge the performance of the solar panels and reduce the cost.

The government has been making steady strides on the road to introducing renewable energy to all villages in the country, especially in the agriculture sector.