India's January-September solar cell module imports surge by 448%
November 30, 2021
From January to September 2021, India's imports of solar cells and modules increased by 448%, reaching US$1.97 billion. In the same period last year, India imported solar cells and modules worth US$359.9 million.
From January to September, the country’s exports of solar cells and modules were US$110.25 million, an increase of 45% from US$76.13 million in the same period last year.
In the third quarter of 2021, India’s solar imports were US$953 million, an increase of 580% compared to US$140 million in the same period last year. Compared with the US$762 million in the previous quarter, this represents an increase of approximately 25% from the previous quarter.
In the third quarter of 2021, solar exports increased by 25% to US$21.2 million from US$16.9 million in the third quarter of 2020. However, this was a 65% decrease from the US$60.6 million in the second quarter.
As the market recovered from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, import and export activities have increased. According to Mercom's second quarter of 2021 Indian solar market update, in the first half of 2021 (H1), India added 4.57 GW of solar installed capacity, an increase of 251% over the same period last year, exceeding the total installed capacity in 2020 .