Solar EVA encapsulant films manufacturer from India, Navitas Alpha Renewables Private Limited (NARPL) has raised INR 70 million as seed funding from a host of investors to help ramp up testing capabilities, and add incremental capacity.
The company was founded in 2020 as a joint venture between solar panel manufacturer Navitas Green Solutions Private Limited or Navitas Solar and Alpha Plastomers Private Limited. NARPL operates a manufacturing facility in Surat's Hojiwala region of Gujarat with 600 MW annual capacity.
It now aims to use the proceeds to add incremental capacity, which it did not specify, and strengthen research and development (R&D) initiatives. Part of proceeds will also be reserved by the company to ramp up its testing capabilities and improve the product's value proposition.
NARPL says it recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a domestic EVA line manufacturer and entered into a technical partnership with the company to co-develop an exclusive low-cost, higher efficiency manufacturing technology compared to current alternatives.
Exploring new products as Polyolefin Elastomer (POE) encapsulants is also on its agenda with the aim to gain a competitive edge in the market.
The funding round was led by investment advisory firm Niveshaay, along with Madhusudan Sarda, IVY Growth Associates, and others.
"Given the enormous potential of the renewables sector and the NARPL team's relentless pursuit of success, this investment seems an ideal way to support India's transition to sustainable energy," said Niveshaay Founder Arvind Kothari.
NARPL's parent Navitas Solar has an annual manufacturing capacity of 200 MW in Gujarat and is now expanding the same to 500 MW with solar modules ranging between 10W to 600W using multi- and mono-crystalline silicon cells, according to its website.
India recently announced INR 195 billion in financial incentives to promote solar manufacturing efforts within the country, with an aim to promote fully integrated supply chain (see India Clears Tranche II Of Solar PV PLI Scheme).