India’s rapidly expanding solar industry is facing a growing workforce readiness gap, with employers across utility-scale project development, manufacturing, rooftop solar installation, and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) reporting that fresh graduates require substantial training before becoming productive, according to Mercom India’s newly released survey report Bridging India’s Solar Talent Gap – Aligning Academia with Industry Needs.

Based on responses from more than 100 industry participants across four major solar segments—utility-scale, manufacturing, rooftop, and engineering, procurement, and construction—the study found the challenge extends beyond individual technical skills. Employers identified gaps across practical exposure, project execution, manufacturing processes, system design, regulatory understanding, commercial knowledge, troubleshooting, and site readiness.

“India’s solar industry is expanding rapidly, but the talent pipeline is not keeping pace with what companies need,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group. “Employers are spending significant time training fresh graduates before they can contribute effectively in project development, manufacturing, rooftop solar, and EPC roles. Academic programs need much stronger exposure to current technologies, operating projects, factories, site conditions, regulations, and the commercial realities of the evolving industry. Greater cooperation between industry and academia is critical to closing this gap.”

According to the report, nearly three-quarters (74%) of manufacturing respondents said fresh graduates take 3 to 12 months to become productive, while another 7.4% said the process takes more than a year. Forty percent (40%) of respondents said 25% to 50% of new hires need retraining, while 29.6% said 51% to 75% require retraining.

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