With cybersecurity and energy security concerns increasingly shaping renewable energy policy worldwide, India faces a growing debate over its dependence on imported solar inverters, particularly those sourced from China.
According to the latest report by JMK Research & Analytics, more than 27.5 GW of inverter shipments were recorded in India during the first quarter of 2026 from 19 suppliers of both central and string inverters. In the central inverter segment, Chinese manufacturers accounted for a dominant share, with Sungrow, Sineng Electric, and Hopewind together contributing nearly 85.5% of total shipments. In the string inverter segment, Sungrow, Sineng Electric, and TBEA collectively held around 45.7% of the market.
While growing cybersecurity concerns have prompted the EU to consider restrictions on funding for PV projects using inverters supplied by high-risk vendors like China, experts say India may need a more calibrated approach—one that strengthens security oversight without disrupting solar deployment.
Cybersecurity risks to the national grid
Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner at KS Legal & Associates, says the primary concern surrounding imported Chinese inverters extends beyond commercial dependence to cybersecurity and strategic vulnerability.
“Modern inverters are intelligent digital systems connected to the grid and capable of remote communication. This raises concerns regarding data access, grid security and excessive dependence on foreign controlled technology in critical infrastructure,” she said.
According to Santosh Jinugu, Partner, Deloitte India, the growing reliance on imported PV inverters in India’s solar farms poses a significant cybersecurity risk to the national grid. “These inverters are deeply connected to OT, IT and enterprise systems for monitoring and metering and are also linked to the grid through Load Dispatch Centres. This level of connectivity creates potential entry points for cyber threats,” Jinugu said.
Jinugu noted that there is a real risk that imported inverters may contain backdoors, such as embedded IoT components with radio or 4G/5G capabilities capable of communicating with external systems. Such modules can be extremely difficult to detect due to their size and packaging and could potentially be exploited to remotely disrupt power generation.
Teppo Hemiä, founder & CEO, Wirepas, said, “As energy systems become increasingly digital and interconnected, cybersecurity must be treated as a foundational requirement for grid resilience and operational continuity.”
“Potential vulnerabilities in connected energy infrastructure can arise from several areas, including insecure remote access mechanisms, weak authentication or credential management, unpatched firmware or software, unsecured communication interfaces, insufficient network segmentation, lack of visibility into connected devices and data flows and vulnerabilities introduced through third-party integrations across the supply chain,” he said, adding that in large-scale industrial and utility environments, cybersecurity must be addressed holistically across devices, connectivity, cloud systems and operational processes.
Existing regulations
India has progressively tightened quality and compliance requirements for solar inverters.
Megha Arora, Partner at CMS INDUSLAW, said inverter procurement for government-funded and subsidised solar projects in India is increasingly regulated through a combination of quality-control requirements, localisation preferences and cybersecurity mandates.
“Under the Solar Systems, Devices and Components Goods Order, 2025 issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification is mandatory for all solar inverters supplied in India, including off-grid, grid-tied, and hybrid inverters. Manufacturers are required to comply with Indian Standards such as IS 16221 (Part 2):2015 and IS 16169:2019, with model-wise efficiency testing also mandated under applicable standards. Products manufactured at different facilities must undergo separate testing and mandatory marking requirements apply,” Arora said.
“In parallel, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) introduced a Standards and Labeling Programme for grid-connected solar inverters.
“Further, in July 2025, the MNRE issued cybersecurity compliance requirements under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana mandating that inverter communication devices connect only to national servers managed by the government or designated agencies. The use of communication systems transmitting data to foreign servers has been discouraged on cybersecurity and energy-security grounds.”
While India has not introduced an ALMM-style domestic content mandate specifically for inverters, government procurement increasingly favours local manufacturing. “SECI tenders often require procurement from “Class-I local suppliers” under the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017, which generally requires at least 50% local content. In addition, bidders from countries sharing a land border with India remain subject to registration restrictions under Rule 144(xi) of the General Financial Rules,” says Arora.
Gaps remain
Government procurement frameworks already provide tools to impose technical standards, data localisation requirements, and trusted-vendor criteria without imposing an outright prohibition on Chinese-make inverters. Experts, however, highlight important gaps remain in the current regulatory framework.
According to Jinugu, while India’s current testing procedures under Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) evaluate safety, grid compatibility, and efficiency, these don’t adequately address cybersecurity risks.
“Although importers are required to submit Construction Data Forms and Critical Component Lists to disclose internal components, these mechanisms rely on self-reporting and can be circumvented if malicious components are intentionally omitted,” he said.
Jinugu proposed that the government should make sure that all OEMs and importers abide by IEC 62443-4-1, which focuses on secure product development lifecycle (the process), and IEC 62443-4-2 technical security requirements. He believes that strengthening these measures will be essential to safeguard India’s power infrastructure from evolving cyber threats.”
Is a European-style restriction feasible
Experts caution that India may not yet be in a position to adopt restrictions similar to those being considered in parts of Europe.
Chinese manufacturers dominate inverter shipments to India because of their technological maturity, large-scale manufacturing ecosystems, and competitive pricing.
Megha Arora highlights that India’s domestic inverter manufacturing ecosystem remains underdeveloped relative to the scale of the country’s rapidly growing solar market, particularly in advanced utility-scale inverter technology.
India’s cumulative installed solar capacity crossed approximately 150 GW by March 2026, with over 44 GW added during FY 2025–26 alone. This pace of deployment has created a substantial demand for solar inverters and related power-electronics equipment.
“Chinese manufacturers have dominated the Indian inverter market for several years due to their economies of scale, mature manufacturing ecosystems, and advanced power-electronics technology. This cost advantage is particularly important in India because utility-scale solar projects are awarded through highly competitive tariff-based bidding processes where reducing capital costs is critical,” said Arora. “The same commercial logic that enabled Chinese dominance in solar modules applies even more strongly in the inverter segment, where India’s domestic manufacturing capacity is considerably weaker.”
“Inverter manufacturing requires advanced electronics, semiconductor integration and strong research capability,” Sonam Chandwani added. “Chinese companies dominate because they have scale, pricing advantages, mature supply chains and proven technology. India has growing manufacturing potential but still depends heavily on imported components and technology.”
Chandwani said that domestic companies are improving, but replacing Chinese dominance immediately would be commercially difficult.
Phased approach favoured
Industry experts see the complete localization of inverter technology as a medium- to long-term objective rather than a near-term possibility. According to them, an immediate restriction on Chinese inverters could create supply-chain disruptions and increase project costs at a time when India is chasing ambitious renewable energy targets.
Chandwani argues that a phased regulatory framework would be more practical and legally sustainable than a sudden prohibition.
“India should avoid an abrupt blanket ban similar to the restrictions being considered in parts of Europe because the domestic ecosystem is not yet fully prepared to replace Chinese suppliers at scale,” she added. “However, India is justified in imposing stricter cybersecurity audits, trusted vendor requirements, phased localisation norms and restrictions for sensitive government projects.”
Rather than specific geopolitical measures or vendor restrictions, Hemiä believes the priority should be establishing strong cybersecurity and resilience requirements applicable across all critical infrastructure technologies and suppliers.
Building resilient, interoperable and secure infrastructure ecosystems is essential to supporting long-term operational continuity and energy security.
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