MNRE proposes ALMM mandate for solar cells from April 1, 2026

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India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has invited suggestions from stakeholders on the draft guidelines of the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) for solar cells as it proposes to make it effective from April 2026.

The Ministry has proposed to issue the ALMM list of solar PV cells effective from April 1, 2026, in view of the installed capacity of solar PV cells expected to increase substantially in the next two years.

Notably, Mercom India’s report, “State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India 2024,” projects India’s PV cell capacity to reach more than 75 GW by 2026 from 5.8 GW as of Dec. 2023.

The ALMM policy was introduced by the MNRE to protect the domestic solar industry from the dumping of Chinese products. It gives domestic manufacturers the opportunity to serve a sizable market by creating a non-tariff barrier for Chinese products.

MNRE has already published the ALMM list for solar modules. The panels on the list comply with the Bureau of Indian Standards and meet the ministry’s module efficiency criteria. With effect from April 1, 2024, only solar modules and manufacturers on this list are eligible for government-backed projects. Total ALMM-listed module capacity exceeds 50 GW.

All projects falling under the purview of ALMM have to mandatorily source their solar PV modules from ALMM list and such PV modules, in turn, will have to use solar PV cells from the ALMM list for solar PV cells. All projects where the last date of bid submission is before the issuance of this order, will stand exempted from the mandatory requirement of using solar PV cells from ALMM list, stated MNRE.

The deadline for submitting the feedback on the draft guidelines for ALMM Order is Oct. 6, 2024.

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