The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has notified the implementation of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) regulation effective April 1, 2024. The new notification, however, eliminates the exemptions for projects under open access and rooftop solar by private parties, announced in the February order.

While MNRE did not provide any clarifications on the exemptions, it mentioned that the ALMM order 2019, which was held in abeyance for a year, i.e., the financial year 2023-24, will come into effect on April 1, 2024.

The removal of open access and unsubsidized rooftop solar projects from exemption comes as a surprise for most industry stakeholders who expected the government to continue the relaxation promised in the February directive.

For projects where the solar modules have been received at the project site by March 31, 2024, and are not able to be commissioned by that day due to reasons beyond the control of the project developer, the ministry will examine it separately.

According to Mercom India Research, the pipeline of open-access solar projects stands at 14 GW as of December 2023.

The ministry first issued the ALMM reimposition order in February 2024, with exemptions announced for projects in advanced stages, open access/captive projects, and non-subsidized rooftop solar projects.

The order was later kept in abeyance following questions from stakeholders on the ambiguity around the definition of ‘advanced stages of construction,’ the phrase used by the MNRE in the notification reviving the ALMM mandate.

The MNRE recently added 3,501 MW of new solar module capacity in the ALMM, increasing the cumulative module manufacturing capacity in the list to 37,421 MW. With the latest addition, ALMM now has 81 module manufacturers.

According to Mercom India Research’s recently released State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India 2024 Report, the country’s cumulative solar module manufacturing capacity reached 64.5 GW, and solar cell manufacturing capacity reached 5.8 GW as of December 2023.

The report forecasts module manufacturing capacity to exceed 150 GW and cell capacity to reach over 75 GW by 2026.