'We're definitely cheaper than the Europeans': Suzlon CEO weighs Indian wind competition

Turbine manufacturer Suzlon’s CEO shrugged off the prospect of growing competition in the Indian wind power market.

“We are definitely cheaper than the European suppliers,” JP Chalasani told financial analysts as he discussed the group’s full-year financial results and was asked about pressures from Western players such as Vestas and China’s Envision.

As for the Chinese threat, the Suzlon chief said “you can see our market share in terms of orders. We have our own set of customers, especially in the C&I [commercial and industrial] segment. So [the] simplest way to answer, we don't see a competition pressure in the next two years”.

Envision has in recent years stormed to first place in the Indian turbine market, displacing previous frontrunner Siemens Gamesa.

A resurgent Suzlon amassed its biggest ever order backlog of 3.3GW in its 2024 financial year, which ended on March 31.

The group – which just a few years ago was barely able to function operationally because of the burden of a huge debt pile – is confident that the opportunities created by India’s stretching renewable energy goals will create enough room for growth.

The nation is targeting installation of 100GW of wind power as part of an overall 500GW renewable energy push by 2030 under the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking another term in elections underway now.

Some 30GW of that goal is made up of offshore wind, but Chalasani said wind at sea in India faces challenges over how to close the cost gap with onshore wind, and pointed to the time needed to embed the sector.

“Offshore would happen at some point of time, but I don't think it's going to be a significant needle-mover immediately because [if] any offshore project, even today, [is] to start, it [will be] five years to six years before we execute the project.”