By Sethuraman N R
(Reuters) – Indian solar module maker Waaree Energies is confident of U.S. demand and is positioned to manage possible import tariffs under President Donald Trump, thanks to its operations in the state of Texas, CEO Amit Paithankar said on Friday.
Last week, Trump ordered a pause on spending from his predecessor’s climate and infrastructure laws and tax credits in clean industries, as well as suspension of new offshore wind power leasing.
The United States, a key market for Indian solar module makers, accounted for nearly one-fifth of Waaree’s revenue in the past nine months. However, concerns over Trump’s clean energy stance have weighed on Waaree’s stock, which has lost about 36% since hitting a peak soon after its October listing.
Waaree’s shares rose 10% on Friday, a day after it reported about three-fold jump in its third-quarter profit.
“In the last month or so, we have been in touch with all of our key customers. Our order book remains to be strong… Our pipeline for the U.S. orders has only increased,” Paithankar told Reuters in an interview.
“And we’ll be closely monitoring the tariff regime as it is rolled out,” he said.
Paithankar said Waaree will decide based on any new tariffs whether to manufacture more in India or scale up capacity at its recently commissioned 1.6 gigawatts (GW) module manufacturing plant in Brookshire, Texas, to as much as 3 GW.
Outside the U.S., Waaree is looking at new export markets including the Middle East, Africa and Australia, Paithankar said.
In India, Waaree expects most of its 5.4 GW solar cell manufacturing capacity in the western state of Gujarat to be operational by March-April this year. The company has about 13.3 GW of module-making capacity in the country.
(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
