In an interview on the sidelines of the Mercom India Renewables Summit 2025 held in New Delhi on July 24 and 25, 2025, Simarpreet Singh, CEO and Director at Hartek Group, spoke about the challenges faced by engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) players, such as transmission infrastructure shortage and supply chain issues.

While the renewable energy sector continues to gain momentum in the country, it has also exposed the gap in the skilled workforce required to execute projects with expertise. Singh highlighted the need for engineering colleges in India to devise courses focused on renewable energy.

Could you provide an overview of the services your company offers?

Hartek is one of India’s largest engineering construction companies. We operate through three business units: power systems, solar EPC, and power distribution products. We are the leaders in the power system sector. Under this division, we build substations up to 765 kV.

We started in the solar EPC segment in 2009-2010. We were part of India’s first grid-connected 2 MW solar power project. We handle utility-scale and rooftop solar projects. For the ground-mounted segment, we partner with public sector undertakings, state developers, and large platforms to meet their decarbonization goals.

Under the power distribution products, we manufacture a complete set of electrical panels and distribution products used in our projects.

Hartek is among the very few companies in India building 765 kV substations, providing EPC for 300 MW utility-scale solar projects, undertaking 10 MW rooftop solar installations, and manufacturing electrical panels.

What are the major challenges faced by EPC companies today?
For an EPC company, increasing the order book is easy, but execution is what matters. We focus on delivering projects on time. On-time completion and delivery are critical for our clients because they can only generate revenue once the power project is commissioned.

The renewable energy sector has grown, but there is a dearth of trained manpower. Unfortunately, solar, hydrogen, and storage technologies are not currently taught in our engineering curriculum.

It’s an industry-wide issue in the renewable sector. There is sufficient investment and demand in the industry, but we need skilled personnel to execute projects in the sector.

How are the rising module prices affecting the viability of projects?
For a lot of our projects, we hedge module prices. As an EPC company, our idea is to deliver quality projects at the lowest possible cost. With strategic collaborations and a long-standing position in the market, we deliver projects at the lowest possible cost.

However, customers today are well informed and understand market trends. Through strategic collaborations, we can develop projects on rooftops, at utility-scale, or on the grid side, and contribute to the entire ecosystem.

Which segment do you see the majority of demand coming from?

We are seeing growth in all segments. Our power systems business is key because grid integration is the biggest challenge today.  Our solar business drives significant growth due to volume, but our other verticals complement and strengthen our overall offerings.

Can India’s current solar module manufacturing capacity meet its rising demand?

While capacities of 200–250 GW are being announced, I hope India does not experience oversupply, as China has.  There is a vast difference between installed and utilized capacity. There is sufficient demand, but if we install 34 GW per year and have 200-250 GW of manufacturing capacity, we may face a situation similar to China’s.
Many manufacturers and assemblers have been enjoying the export market for a few years, but with market volatility and policy changes, they must reassess their strategies.

What bottlenecks do you see in transformer supply and related equipment?

We are not a transformer manufacturer. Power systems are one of our core businesses, where we provide EPC services and build the grid infrastructure up to 765 kV. Since all these supply chains sell to us, there is a big challenge.

We are also facing challenges with equipment such as circuit breakers, isolators, and control relay panels.

We must address the lack of quality manufacturers in the high-voltage (HV) and extra-high-voltage (EHV) segments.

The government has been very passionately building the sector over the last few years. We want high-quality manufacturers to enter the EHV and HV sector, which will also accelerate our journey towards renewables and net zero.

With the confusion over ISTS waiver expiry, was there a rush to complete projects before the deadline?

We did see a rush to complete projects before the expiry of the ISTS waiver. India is already a long-term economy, and when it comes to the power sector specifically, policy decisions need to be more long-term and extend beyond 2030. We are now seeing that reflected in all the actions on the ground.

What policy or regulatory changes are needed to meet India’s renewable energy ambitions?

The focus should be on the transmission and distribution sectors, as well as the power system sector. Large-scale EHV and HV equipment manufacturers should be given incentives similar to those in the production-linked incentive program for solar manufacturers, to reduce lead times.

A solar plant can be ready in six months. However, the grid, transformers, and equipment require approximately 18 months to be prepared. Secondly, right-of-way issues are something that have to be taken head-on by the government. A lot of these large funds are also investing in India. They want ease of business and a clear regulatory framework. Incentivizing manufacturing in the EHV and HV spaces is the need of the hour.

Can you share some insights into Hartek’s future expansion plans?

We recently announced that by 2030, we’ll be a ₹100 billion (~$1.13 billion) company. But I think fundamentally, we are at a sweet spot. We are building the grid infrastructure, the renewable energy infrastructure, and both utility-scale and rooftop projects. We’re also on the power distribution side. We want the focus to be project execution I know my customers want timely execution. If I can solve that, we’ll continue to be a market leader.

(Note: Sections of the interview have been paraphrased for better reading. Check out the video for a full chat)