Indian Solar Firms Reroute Supply Chains Amid US Tariffs

24 Oct 2025 CW Team

Indian solar manufacturers are restructuring their supply chains to retain access to the profitable United States market and offset the impact of steep new tariffs, company executives said.

The development follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs of up to 50 per cent on most exports from India, among the highest levies faced by any U.S. trading partner. The duties came into effect on 27 August.

In a post-earnings call on Friday, Vikram Solar, which derives around 15 per cent of its current order book from the U.S. market, said it was adapting to the new tariff structure by sourcing solar cells from countries with lower duties. Under U.S. trade policy, tariffs on solar modules are determined by the country in which the solar cell’s PN junction — the component responsible for generating electricity — is formed.

This means that even if a solar module is assembled in India, the U.S. applies tariffs based on the origin of the cell used inside. “We are exploring alternative supply chains from countries with significant cell capacities that face lower levies than India,” said Rinal Shah, an executive at Vikram Solar.

The company did not disclose whether the new tariffs had impacted its September-quarter earnings but expressed confidence in continuing U.S. deliveries despite the trade challenges.

Waaree Energies, India’s largest solar module manufacturer and one of the top exporters to the U.S., confirmed that it was not using domestically produced solar cells for American shipments to avoid higher tariffs. The company is currently under investigation by U.S. authorities, who allege it circumvented tariffs on Chinese-made cells and panels by relabelling them as “Made in India” — an accusation Waaree has firmly denied.

Waaree CEO Amit Paithankar said during an analyst call that the company’s supply chain for U.S. exports is “completely China-free” and fully compliant with trade regulations. “We have also configured it in such a way that the tariff problems associated with exports are minimised,” he said.

Waaree added that its U.S. orders remain unaffected so far by the tariffs and the ongoing trade probe, as the company continues to adjust sourcing and logistics to safeguard market access.

Indian solar manufacturers are restructuring their supply chains to retain access to the profitable United States market and offset the impact of steep new tariffs, company executives said. The development follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs of up to 50 per cent on most exports from India, among the highest levies faced by any U.S. trading partner. The duties came into effect on 27 August. In a post-earnings call on Friday, Vikram Solar, which derives around 15 per cent of its current order book from the U.S. market, said it was adapting to the new tariff structure by sourcing solar cells from countries with lower duties. Under U.S. trade policy, tariffs on solar modules are determined by the country in which the solar cell’s PN junction — the component responsible for generating electricity — is formed. This means that even if a solar module is assembled in India, the U.S. applies tariffs based on the origin of the cell used inside. “We are exploring alternative supply chains from countries with significant cell capacities that face lower levies than India,” said Rinal Shah, an executive at Vikram Solar. The company did not disclose whether the new tariffs had impacted its September-quarter earnings but expressed confidence in continuing U.S. deliveries despite the trade challenges. Waaree Energies, India’s largest solar module manufacturer and one of the top exporters to the U.S., confirmed that it was not using domestically produced solar cells for American shipments to avoid higher tariffs. The company is currently under investigation by U.S. authorities, who allege it circumvented tariffs on Chinese-made cells and panels by relabelling them as “Made in India” — an accusation Waaree has firmly denied. Waaree CEO Amit Paithankar said during an analyst call that the company’s supply chain for U.S. exports is “completely China-free” and fully compliant with trade regulations. “We have also configured it in such a way that the tariff problems associated with exports are minimised,” he said. Waaree added that its U.S. orders remain unaffected so far by the tariffs and the ongoing trade probe, as the company continues to adjust sourcing and logistics to safeguard market access.

Real Estate

05 Dec 2025

RBI Rate Cut Boosts Confidence Across Housing Market

Industry Context and Market DynamicsThe real estate industry has welcomed the RBI’s rate cut as a timely boost to affordability and demand. With home prices having risen steadily across major markets, even a marginal reduction in interest rates meaningfully strengthens purchasing power, especially for first-time and mid-income buyers.Ashish Jerath, President – Sales & Marketing, Smartworld Developers, observes:“The RBI’s 25-basis-point cut, bringing the repo rate down to 5.25%, is a timely boost for the real estate sector. Lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, enabling homeb..

Infrastructure Transport

05 Dec 2025

BMC Resumes Rs 170 Billion Road Works, Targets 80 per cent By Jan 2026

Following the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon in October, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has restarted work on 645 roads—covering 297.49 kilometres—under its large-scale concretisation programme. Data shows that more than 60 per cent of the resumed works are located in the western suburbs. Officials said the civic body aims to complete concretisation on 80 per cent of the roads where fresh work has begun by January 2026. Launched in 2022, the Rs 170 billion project seeks to concretise 700 kilometres of roads across Mumbai. All civil works were halted during the monsoon ..

Infrastructure Urban

05 Dec 2025

India Pushes Digital Shift In Urban Land Mapping

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development has convened a National Symposium on NAKSHA – the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations – to advance India’s transition to modern, technology-driven land mapping. Speaking at the inaugural session, Secretary Manoj Joshi underscored the urgent need to move revenue departments away from outdated, tape-based methods and rough hand-drawn sketches. He stressed that adopting latitude–longitude-based digital mapping and GIS-linked registration systems is essential for economic stabi..