Soda ash-maker GHCL eyes greater share in India’s solar glass market | Company Business News

New Delhi: Industrial chemical maker GHCL Ltd is looking to tap India’s fast-expanding solar energy space with a new soda ash plant in Gujarat’s Kutch region that will eventually double the company’s current production capacity.

Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, is a key raw material used in making glass, including for solar power panels. India is a major importer of both soda ash and solar glass.

For the first phase of the new facility, GHCL will invest about ₹3,500 crore to set up an annual production capacity of 550,000 tonnes of soda ash, managing director R.S. Jalan said in an interview. “Total capacity will be 1.1 million tonnes, which will be added in two phases over a period of time,” he said.

Noida-headquartered GHCL’s current soda ash producing capacity is about 1.2 million tonnes.

Jalan added that domestic solar glass makers are looking to increase their manufacturing capacity from about 12 gigawatts (GW) now to 40 GW by the end of 2026, which would require an additional 400,000 tonnes of soda ash.

“That means… there is an additional opportunity of 400,000 tonnes of soda ash requirement going forward” but competitors will also be looking to grab a share of this pie, Jalan said. “I can’t say that out of this how much I am going to fill, but overall my market share is around 26%, which will go to 34-35% by 2028-29,” he said.

GHCL’s main rivals in the soda ash space include Tata Chemicals Ltd and DCW Chemicals.

In its annual report for 2023-24, GHCL said India had a total installed soda ash capacity of about 4.45 million tonnes catering to makers of glass, detergents, soaps, batteries and other products. Besides, about 25% of India’s demand for solar ash is met through imports.

Most of the soda ash capacity in India is located in Gujarat due to the availability of limestone and salt—the main raw materials required—in the state.

Jalan said demand for soda ash was increasing by 5% annually and was expected to accelerate driven by the domestic solar glass industry.

Jalan also said GHCL aimed to lower its carbon emissions by 30% annually and be carbon neutral by 2047 through measures such as using more biofuels for its broilers. Currently, about 5% of the energy used in the GHCL’s operations comes from biofuels, he said.

While India is targeting 500 GW of non-fossil-based power capacity by 2030, some projections show that solar-based capacity could reach 1,000 GW by 2047 from about 85 GW now.