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Alpex Solar Rules Out Equity Raise Now, Mainboard Transition After Feb 2027 Photograph: (AI)
Alpex Solar has ruled out any immediate equity dilution even as it prepares for its next phase of expansion, while reiterating that it remains on track to migrate from the SME platform to the main board after February 2027.
During its Q1 FY27 investors’ call, the company said it is currently not planning another equity issue and will look to use a funding structure similar to the one adopted for its solar cell manufacturing project for future expansion.
Responding to a question on funding its planned wafer and ingot manufacturing capacity, management said it would initially rely on a small amount of debt and wait for greater visibility from its cell operations before considering any larger fund-raise.
“As of now, there is no plan to sell more equity in the market,” management said. It added that any future plan to raise equity or funds from the market would be considered when the company has “some more visibility from our cell operations.” 
The company said this approach would broadly replicate the funding strategy used for its 2.2 GW solar cell project, where it has sought to keep debt on the books relatively limited while using the expected cash-generation potential of the new business to support further expansion.
Alpex also reiterated that its planned migration to the main board remains on track. The company said it expects to become eligible to file its migration papers after February 15, 2027, and is targeting filing on the same date. Management said the exchange approval process could subsequently take around two to three months.
“We will get qualified to file our papers on fifteenth of February, and hopefully we will file our document on fifteenth of February itself,” management said during the call.  The company added that it is already operating in compliance with main-board requirements.
“We are already doing all the regulations and meeting all those requirements of the main board only,” management said, adding that the company expects to move quickly once the approval is received. 
The planned main-board transition comes as Alpex is expanding beyond its core module manufacturing business and building capabilities across a wider portion of the solar manufacturing value chain.
Management offered a particularly strong assessment of the Indian module manufacturing market, warning that the rapid expansion of module capacity has created a highly competitive environment.
According to the company, a large number of manufacturers entered the module business in recent years, partly attracted by the prospect of public-market valuations.
“Many people jumped into the bandwagon… to take their company public or easy valuations, high valuations,” management said, adding that the situation resulted in several manufacturers entering the sector without a long-term manufacturing strategy. 
Alpex believes this excess module capacity could eventually result in consolidation, particularly as domestic-content requirements increasingly move upstream into cells and wafers.
The company said the Indian government’s policy direction is clearly towards building the entire solar manufacturing supply chain domestically, rather than relying on imports.
“The government policy and government intent is very, very, very, very clear that this has to be manufactured in India, and all the supply chain has to be manufactured in India,” management said.  Against this backdrop, Alpex expects standalone module manufacturers to face growing difficulties.
“The plain vanilla module manufacturer will find it very, very difficult to survive,” management said, pointing to the increasing importance of domestic cell and wafer manufacturing.  The company also said standalone module manufacturers have limited options in export markets because of intense competition from Chinese manufacturers.
“China is really, really aggressive on standalone basis. You cannot compete with China in the international market where there is no protection,” management said. 
Alpex’s assessment is that the industry’s effective manufacturing capacity will increasingly be determined by the availability of domestic cells. In its example, if India has 150 GW of module capacity but only 50 GW of cell capacity, the company believes a substantial portion of the module capacity would struggle to remain competitive.
The company is therefore positioning itself beyond module manufacturing. Alpex currently operates 2.4 GW of module capacity and is moving towards 3.6 GW, while also manufacturing aluminium frames in-house.
Management said it is able to maintain relatively better margins than some competitors partly because its existing capacity is smaller and it does not have to chase low-margin orders merely to keep factories running.
“We are not in a hurry to fill up the capacity,” management said. As a result, the company can be “picky about the orders” it executes and avoid orders that are less remunerative. 
Alpex also pointed to its EPC and solar-pump businesses, along with older Coal India orders secured when the module market was less competitive, as factors supporting its margin performance. 
The company has also indicated that it has no immediate plan to take module manufacturing capacity all the way to 5 GW. While capacity is expected to reach 3.6 GW, management said additional module capacity can be established relatively quickly if demand warrants it and that a decision on further expansion would be taken around September during FY27-28. 
The next major step in Alpex’s integration strategy is its planned wafer and ingot manufacturing facility. The company said it has already started the process of establishing 2.5 GW of ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity. The building is “almost ready”, while technology partner and machinery selection is already around 70-80% complete. 
Management said it expects to accelerate the project once the solar cell line begins production. “Once this is done, which is say another month or so, then we will actively start the process of putting up our wafer and ingot manufacturing,” it said. 
The company has also indicated a broader ambition to explore up to 5 GW of solar glass, wafer and ingot manufacturing, according to its investor presentation. 
Alpex expects this deeper integration to become increasingly important as India’s domestic manufacturing requirements evolve. Its stated strategy is moving from modules to cells and then further upstream into wafers and ingots.
The immediate manufacturing milestone remains the commissioning of Alpex’s 2.2 GW G12R TOPCon solar cell line. The company expects production to begin around September 15, with the first commercial invoice targeted around September 19-20. The project has been delayed by about a month following a fire incident at the facility.
The cell line is designed for efficiency of up to 26.5%, and Alpex expects most of the cells produced to be consumed internally in its module manufacturing operations rather than sold in the merchant market. The company said its 2.2 GW cell capacity is broadly matched with its 2.4 GW existing module capacity. 
Management expects the shift towards cells to also provide protection against module-level margin pressure. “The margin is now moving towards cell business,” it said, arguing that the standalone module business will become increasingly difficult while integrated manufacturers could retain stronger economics. 
For Alpex, therefore, the next phase is less about simply adding module capacity and more about building an integrated manufacturing platform. The company’s decision to defer any immediate equity raise, pursue main-board migration after February 2027 and simultaneously move into wafers and ingots indicates that it is seeking to fund this expansion while retaining greater control over its capital structure and the solar manufacturing value chain.
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