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Long and Short
Edition #68 • 28 Jan 2026 • 4 min read
It goes where few of its rivals have gone
by Seetharaman G
It goes where few of its rivals have gone
The story behind the numbers and motivations driving India’s stock market Subscribe here
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At first glance, Waaree Energies’ evolution is quite obvious.
It began as an assembler of photovoltaic panels made of imported cells, mostly from China, in 2007. Then in the 2010s, when solar farms became wildly popular in India, thanks in part to falling costs, Waaree had to contend with gargantuan Chinese rivals who flooded the Indian market with cheap panels.
At the end of the decade, as part of its quest for self-reliance, India raised the import barriers and handed out largesse to battle-scarred domestic manufacturers. The aim was not just to make solar modules but to go deeper into the value chain by making cells, wafers, and ingots. (Polysilicon is melted to form blocks called ingots, which are sliced into wafers, which are then turned into cells.)
So Waaree promptly began doing just that. Then, in October 2024, when it was sure it had a compelling enough growth story, it went public. And it began trading 70% higher than its IPO price. Roughly a year later, its market value crossed Rs 1 lakh crore.
The company has since lost a quarter of its valuation, but it’s worth more than twice as much as the nearest listed competitor, Premier Energies. And it trades at a far higher price-to-earnings multiple than another prominent rival, Vikram Solar.
Waaree is, after all, the market leader in a business that will continue to benefit from some form of protectionism for years to come.
Even as it widened its manufacturing chops, Waaree began building and maintaining solar farms for its clients. In the December quarter, this business contributed over a tenth of its over Rs 7,560 crore top line.
So far, so good. The narrative is fairly straightforward.
But on Monday, a listed subsidiary of Waaree bought a majority stake in Associated Power Structures, a transmission-tower maker and electricity-grid contractor, for over Rs 1,220 crore.
A solar-panel producer installing its own panels is one thing. But why would it bother with what happens to the power that is generated?
Well, that could turn out to be one of the biggest opportunities in clean energy in India.
Solar-power generation peaks at mid-day, while demand for electricity peaks in the evening. So making use of solar power while it’s available means cutting back on fossil fuel sources during that period.
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