From Scale to Sovereignty: EAC at Smarter E India 2026
Date: 25–27 February 2026
Venue: Helipad Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
India is the 2nd largest solar module manufacturer globally, with over 140 GW of installed capacity and strong policy support through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. Yet scale alone does not equal sovereignty. The deeper question, one that EAC brought to the stage is who owns the design logic upstream.
Anup Barapatre outlined a focused perspective on what it truly means for India to move upstream in the solar value chain:
- Sovereignty is not about producing everything domestically: it is about owning design authority at the wafer, ingot, and process level.
- For Indian industrial groups: build process depth, not just capacity.
- For global OEMs and technology providers: become architecture partners, not turnkey line suppliers.
For EAC, the true value of an event like Smarter E India lies as much in the margins as it does on the main stage. Corridor conversations, audience questions that sharpen thinking, and introductions that open unexpected doors with concentrated, high-quality dialogue is where ideas move closest to action. This edition delivered exactly that.
EAC extends its sincere gratitude to Solar Promotion GmbH, and to Dr. Puzant Baliozian, VDMA Photovoltaics Equipment, for the opportunity to contribute to well curated discussion. We also thank the organisers of Smarter E India, Messe Muenchen India, for building a platform where industry, policy, and innovation genuinely intersect.
Events like this make collaboration real.
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