In recent years, India’s domestic manufacturing industry has struggled to satisfy the country’s insatiable solar appetite as it started working towards its ambitious 100 GW solar goal by 2022. Against the backdrop of its heavy reliance on solar imports, India is expected to welcome a new 200 MW solar panel factory, located in one of its leading solar states of Telangana.

According to Indian financial newspaper The Hindu Business Line, the new production facility was built by Indian company Premier Solar, which now reports an accumulated manufacturing capacity of 375 MW for modules and 50 MW for solar cells, and is scheduled to be inaugurated on July 29 by K.T. Rama Rao, Telangana’s Minister of IT.

“Premier Solar is expanding its manufacturing capacity by adding a state-of-the-art fully automatic 200 MW solar module manufacturing facility and with this expansion, the cumulative manufacturing capacity stands at 375 MW for modules and 50 MW for Solar Cell,” Surender Pal Singh, Premier Solar Chairman, said at a press conference.

On the same day, Premier Solar’s eco-friendly solar-powered hybrid e-vehicles, including solar e-rickshaws, solar cycle rickshaws, solar e-bikes and solar bicycles, will be launched by Harish Rao, Minister of Irrigation, in Annaram village in Sangareddy district.

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The company plans to initially market its brand of e-vehicles in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and expand its reach nationally in due course.

Meanwhile, Telangana’s solar ambitions remain high, as its officials are hoping for a surge from current installed base of 1.3 GW to over 5 GW by 2019 via its decentralized model of development, which it ushered instead of the mega solar park model adopted by many other Indian states.