Interview with Nishant Sood: open access, ALMM and the next phase of C&I solar growth
Candi Solar has expanded its contracted solar portfolio to over 250 MW across India and South Africa and is targeting more than 400 MW by mid-2027, with an increasing focus on open-access projects and battery energy storage systems (BESS). As India’s commercial and industrial (C&I) solar market evolves amid policy changes, grid constraints and rising demand for clean energy, Power Peak Digest spoke with Nishant Sood, Managing Director, Candi Solar India, about the company’s growth strategy, the impact of recent Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) measures, financing plans, and the outlook for the sector.
1. Candi Solar was founded in 2018. How did the idea for a performance-linked, Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO)-style Commercial and Industrial (C&I) solar model come about, and how has it evolved since then?
The underlying principle behind Candi Solar has always been to power a sustainable planet, one business at a time. Sustainability has been at the heart of the company from the beginning. We wanted to focus on sectors where emissions are significant and where solar power could make a meaningful environmental impact. When we looked at emerging markets, we found the greatest concentration of non-clean energy consumption in Asia and Africa, particularly India and South Africa. Within India, around 90% of energy consumption comes from the SME segment. That combination of factors shaped our approach and led us to focus on India and the SME market. Since starting the business in 2018, we have evolved considerably. We initially focused on rooftop solar, which remains a core part of our business. More recently, we have expanded into open access because it allows us to make a larger impact. Rooftop installations are naturally limited by the space available at a customer’s facility, whereas open-access projects enable us to generate significantly more clean energy and meet a larger share of a client’s electricity demand.
2. Candi Solar is targeting a contracted portfolio beyond 400 MWp. What is the expected timeline for reaching that milestone, and how much of the capacity is already in the pipeline versus still being sourced?
Across India and South Africa, we already have more than 250 MW of contracted capacity. We expect to cross the 400 MW mark by the middle of 2027. Beyond that, our target is to reach around 1.25 GW by the end of 2028 across both markets. Historically, our portfolio has been split roughly one-third in South Africa and two-thirds in India, and we expect that balance to continue.
3. The portfolio has more than doubled to over 220 MWp in the past 18 months, including 85 MWp from open access projects in India. What is driving this open access growth, and do you expect it to continue outpacing rooftop and on-site projects?
Our focus on rooftop solar remains unchanged, but it is a far more distributed market. The scale of rooftop projects is very different from open access. A typical open-access project might be 10-15 MW, whereas it would take around 20 rooftop installations to reach the same capacity. So while we will continue to add more rooftop customers, most of the growth in installed megawatts has come from open access. We entered the open-access segment about three years ago. The first year was relatively slow as we built our understanding of the market, but once we gained experience, we significantly increased our focus. We are now at an inflection point where we expect open-access installations to accelerate. We believe the pace of growth will continue, with annual capacity additions increasing compared with previous years, while rooftop solar remains an important part of our business.
4. MNRE issued a fresh OM on July 18, 2026, which supersedes the May 25 and June 15 memorandums and grants a blanket ALMM List-II exemption for solar PV cells through December 31, 2026, for net-metering and open access projects. This replaces the case-by-case Category I/II exemption process tied to the July 15 commissioning window. Did any of Candi Solar’s India projects rely on that earlier case-by-case route, and how does the new blanket extension change your sourcing or commissioning plans for the rest of 2026?
None of our projects fell within those timelines. The exemption applied to projects that had in-principle design approval before June 1 and were commissioned within the specified timeframe. This did not affect us because we had started planning for the ALMM transition in the third quarter of 2025. Open-access projects have longer development and commissioning cycles, with land acquisition and grid connectivity adding to the timeline. We were already discussing this with our clients and made it clear that if there was any risk of missing the ALMM deadline, we would switch those projects to ALMM-compliant modules rather than proceed with non-ALMM modules. As a result, none of our projects required the exemption. We also ensured that the projects we planned with ALMM-compliant modules were signed before June 30.
5. Does this last-minute exemption mechanism affect your confidence in the long-term stability of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) policy framework, particularly for solar cells (List-II) in addition to modules (List-I)?
The government’s commitment to the Make in India initiative is very clear, and I don’t see that changing. Given India’s renewable energy targets, reducing dependence on imported modules is important, so the policy direction is understandable. The next logical step will be strengthening domestic manufacturing further, including wafer production. From an industry perspective, the most important requirement is clarity and transparency. Businesses can adapt to regulatory changes provided there is sufficient visibility and timelines are clearly communicated. In that respect, the government has been clear about its objectives, allowing developers to plan with greater confidence.
6. Candi Solar raised USD 58.5 million in debt financing led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), along with a USD 24 million Series C round in July 2025. How is this capital being allocated between India and South Africa, and across rooftop, open access, and battery storage segments?
The financing is structured as a multi-currency facility with local currency components for both India and South Africa. This allows us to draw funds directly in local currency rather than converting from US dollars. The capital will support approximately 200 MW of new projects across the two markets. Historically, deployment has been split roughly one-third in South Africa and two-thirds in India, and we expect that allocation to remain broadly the same. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are another area of focus. We have been deploying BESS in South Africa for six to seven years, but the market in India is still relatively nascent. We believe the timing is now right for BESS in India, and it will become one of our key focus areas during the second half of this year.
7. Candi Solar competes with players such as CleanMax, Fourth Partner Energy, Amplus Solar, and Cleantech Solar. What differentiates Candi Solar in the market-technology, financing, customer engagement, execution speed, or another factor?
If I had to identify one differentiator, it would be innovation. That applies across the business – from developing products based on customer feedback to managing a highly distributed portfolio of assets using customised tools. Another area is our ability to serve the non-investment-grade segment, particularly SMEs, which has been our focus from the beginning. Over the past 10 – 15 years, much of the market has concentrated on large, investment-grade companies. Through our approach to credit assessment and risk pricing, we’ve been able to develop financial products that are better suited to the SME segment. Broadly, our differentiation comes from innovation in three areas: financial products, asset management, and the way we assess credit risk and serve SME customers.
8. How does the South Africa business compare with India in terms of regulatory environment, customer demand, and project economics?
The biggest driver in South Africa is that solar provides both cost savings and energy security. While businesses in India primarily adopt solar to reduce electricity costs, businesses in South Africa also rely on solar and storage because of the relatively volatile grid. Energy security is therefore a much stronger consideration. From a regulatory perspective, India is ahead in some respects. Open access and wheeling are only beginning to develop in South Africa, whereas India has been implementing these frameworks for some time. At the same time, South Africa has introduced incentives such as accelerated depreciation, which encourage businesses to adopt solar more quickly. Those are the main differences between the two markets.
9. MNRE recently approved Zinc Aluminium Magnesium (ZAM) alloy as a fourth option for solar module mounting structures under the PM Surya Ghar scheme. Is this something Candi Solar would consider, especially for coastal projects in India or South Africa?
Yes, it is something we’re evaluating. Based on our discussions with the project development team, ZAM offers greater corrosion resistance than conventional steel, which is commonly used for mounting structures. That makes it particularly relevant for coastal locations, where corrosion and humidity can significantly affect the life of mounting structures. We see potential applications across both rooftop and open-access projects.
10. Taken together, recent MNRE measures, including ALMM flexibility, Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) relief, and mounting structure approvals, appear aimed at easing project bottlenecks. From your perspective, are stalled projects currently a significant constraint on India’s solar growth, or are larger issues emerging around grid infrastructure, financing, or land availability?
Broadly, the government’s direction has been to reduce barriers to project development. There are many stakeholders involved – including the government, DISCOMs, module manufacturers, clients, developers, and EPC contractors – so there will naturally be differing priorities. But overall, the intent has been to reduce obstacles – whether through faster approvals or greater flexibility under the ALMM framework. The main constraint we’re seeing now is grid infrastructure. In some locations, transmission and grid capacity have not kept pace with the rapid growth of solar installations. However, the government is addressing this by investing in grid infrastructure and encouraging energy storage. Storage will help flatten the generation profile, allowing DISCOMs and the grid to absorb renewable power more evenly over a 24-hour period instead of primarily during daylight hours.
11. Where do you see Candi Solar over the next five years in terms of installed capacity and geographic footprint? Are there plans for another equity raise, or does debt financing remain the preferred growth route?
By the end of 2028, we’re targeting more than 1.2 – 1.3 GW across India and South Africa, and we have a clear path to achieve that. Beyond solar, we’re expanding into adjacent areas. We started with rooftop projects, moved into open access, and are now entering battery energy storage systems (BESS). We also see opportunities in energy efficiency, given the insights we have into our clients’ energy consumption and usage patterns. Electric vehicle (EV) charging is another area with significant potential. We’ve already helped some clients install charging infrastructure for their employees’ EVs, and we expect that business to grow. Our original vision was to focus on Asia and Africa. Today, our operations are concentrated in India and South Africa, but those won’t necessarily be our only markets. If attractive opportunities emerge elsewhere in Asia or Africa over the next two to three years, we’re open to expanding. Looking further ahead, I won’t put a specific capacity target on where we’ll be five years from now because BESS will become an increasingly important part of the business. Our focus is to continue helping clients manage their energy needs – whether through clean energy, energy storage, improved efficiency, or other solutions that create value. On financing, we are currently in the process of raising another equity round, which we expect to close in the second half of this year. That will be followed by another debt raise in early 2027. Together, these financings should provide the capital required to support our growth over the next three years and help expand our portfolio beyond 1.3 – 1.4 GW.
