India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has clarified that solar cells manufactured using imported diffused silicon wafer (generally called ‘blue wafer’) shall not qualify as domestically manufactured for MNRE schemes and programmes mandating use of domestically manufactured solar PV cells.
Government schemes like PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, PM KUSUM and CPSU Phase II mandate use of modules meeting domestic content requirement, i.e, modules made in India using domestically manufactured cells.
A solar PV cell (based on crystalline-silicon technology) shall be considered to be domestically manufactured only if the same has been manufactured in India using undiffused silicon wafer (black wafer), classifiable under Customs Tariff Head 3818, and all steps / processes required for manufacturing solar PV cell from the undiffused silicon wafer have been carried out in India, stated MNRE.
MNRE reiterated that thin-film solar PV modules manufactured in integrated factory located in India are eligible for deployment in projects under MNRE schemes and programmes mandating use of DCR modules (domestically manufactured solar PV modules which are made using domestically manufactured PV cells).
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