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RelatedTop Indian solar products maker Waaree to expand in US despite trade probeWaaree Energies secures 692 MW solar module supply orders in India, USIndian solar firms tweaking supply chains to navigate US tariffs India’s top solar panel maker Waaree Energies Ltd. said it’s reconfiguring its supply chain in an attempt to get around steep US import tariffs and keep supplying to a country that accounts for nearly 60% of its orders.The company is sourcing cells — which are assembled to form modules — from nations that have low tariffs on their exports to the US, Waaree’s Chief Executive Officer Amit Paithankar said in an interview late Thursday. Waaree’s push for the world’s second-largest solar market comes amid escalating trade tensions between New Delhi and Washington DC. In August, President Donald Trump announced a steep 50% tariffs on India to punish it for its purchase of Russian oil and US authorities began a new anti-dumping probe on modules from India, Indonesia and Laos.The manufacturer is betting on a little-known 2012 US customs ruling that deems solar panels to have been made in the country where the cells come from. Paithankar is confident that “if you configure your supply chain well,” the high tariffs currently in place on Indian goods can be sidestepped. “We are continuing to service our US orders,” he said.The US launched a separate investigation on Waaree for possible duty evasion in September. At the time, the company said it was cooperating with the ongoing investigation and was abiding “by all applicable local laws and regulations in every country that it operates.” Paithankar declined to comment further.Live EventsMORE STORIES FOR YOU✕Top Indian solar products maker Waaree to expand in US despite trade probeWaaree Energies secures 692 MW solar module supply orders in India, USIndian solar firms tweaking supply chains to navigate US tariffs« Back to recommendation storiesI don't want to see these stories becauseSUBMITWaaree’s order book was for 24 gigawatts at the end of September, worth about 470 billion rupees ($5.3 billion). The US accounts for nearly 60% of that. The company plans to make those panels at its Indian plants, as well as its US facilities where operations are expanding.Waaree is on course to double capacity at its Houston module plant to 3.2 gigawatts in the next six months and has added about a gigawatt of panel making lines through the acquisition of US assets of Meyer Burger Technology AG.The company has so far invested about $150 million in the US and has plans to expand it eight-fold by potentially adding cell manufacturing and battery storage systems, Paithankar said. Paithankar said Waaree’s decision to stick with the US is based on fundamentals. The artificial intelligence boom, electrification of transport and “reshoring” of manufacturing are fueling massive demand for power in the US, with renewables being the most cost-effective source, he said. Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Read More News onWaaree EnergiesDonald Trumpsolar panelsSolar Panelsolar marketUS tariffsUS solar panel tariffsTrump tariffssolar panel supplygreen energy (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onWaaree EnergiesDonald Trumpsolar panelsSolar Panelsolar marketUS tariffsUS solar panel tariffsTrump tariffssolar panel supplygreen energy(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless
