Jakson Solar to put up to $525 million into cell, ingot-wafer plants

Jakson Solar plans to invest up to $525 million in plants making solar cells and ingot-wafers, according to Reuters. The company is an Indian solar manufacturer.

The move takes Jakson upstream from modules into the harder end of the supply chain. Cells sit between raw wafers and finished modules. Ingot-wafers are the step before that, where polysilicon is cast into ingots and sliced into thin wafers.

Both stages need heavy capital and long build times. India has built out module assembly capacity fast over the past few years. Cell and wafer lines have lagged behind, which keeps the country tied to imports for the components that go into those modules.

Why the upstream step matters

Module assembly is the least capital-intensive part of the chain. It's also the easiest to set up. Cells and wafers are where the money, the machinery and the process know-how pile up. A $525 million commitment puts Jakson in a smaller group of Indian firms willing to fund that stretch.

The announcement comes as India pushes to deepen domestic manufacturing under its clean-energy plans. The government has run production-linked incentive schemes aimed at pulling cell and wafer capacity onshore. Exact details of Jakson's plant locations, timelines and capacity weren't disclosed in the Reuters report.

Jakson Solar is part of the Jakson Group, an Indian company with operations across power and energy. The group has been in the solar business for years, mostly on the module and project side.

What's still open

• Where the cell and ingot-wafer plants will be built.
• How the $525 million will be split between the two lines.
• When construction starts and when output begins.
• Nameplate capacity for each plant.

The size of the bet is the story. Half a billion dollars is a serious number for an Indian solar manufacturer moving into cell and wafer production. Whether the plants get built on schedule is the next question.

Reuters reported the investment figure on October 26, 2026.