The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has expanded the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) List-II for solar cells in its seventh revision.

RenewSys India has entered the ALMM List-II with 452 MW of bifacial N-Type TOPCon solar cells at its manufacturing facility in the Ranga Reddy district of Telangana.

The enlisted model RESERV 71P of solar cells has dimensions of 182.2 mm × 183.75 mm, 16 BB, with no bus bars.

The bifacial cells have an average solar efficiency of 24.6% and an average wattage of 8.23 W, with an efficiency range of 24% to 25.6% and a wattage range of 8.03 W to 8.54 W.

The enlistment will be valid until April 29, 2030.

The total enlisted capacity now stands at 29,758 MW from 29,306 MW in April.

India added nearly 119 GW of solar modules and over 9 GW of solar cell capacity in 2025, according to Mercom India’s State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India 2026 report.

The manufacturing expansion was driven by demand from India’s large utility-scale solar project pipeline, residential rooftop targets, the PM Surya Ghar program, and the ALMM List-II domestic cell mandate. As a result of these policy initiatives, the country’s cumulative module manufacturing capacity reached approximately 210 GW, while cumulative cell capacity stood at roughly 27 GW by December 2025.

Last October, MNRE took serious note of government agencies issuing tenders with short bid submission timelines, clearly intended to circumvent the ALMM mandate on solar cells. It stated that any existing tenders with short bidding timelines that were issued without complying with the General Financial Rules and Central Vigilance Commission regulations must, if necessary, be scrapped and new bids issued in full compliance with the rules.

Earlier, to accelerate its push to create domestic manufacturing capacity across the solar value chain, the government proposed mandating the use of India-made wafers under ALMM starting June 1, 2028. MNRE, in a draft amendment to the ALMM order, proposed creating an ALMM List-III for wafers, on the lines of solar modules and cells.

The ALMM for solar wafers will not be issued unless it includes at least three wafer manufacturing units that operate independently and are not under common ownership or control, with an aggregate wafer manufacturing capacity of 15 GW per year.