The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on Friday said that it has re-imposed the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) order for solar photovoltaic (PV) modules from April 1, 2024.

In FY24, the ALMM was put on hold for the entire fiscal year to provide relief to solar PV manufacturers, who were faced with limited domestic availability. However in February 2024, the Ministry put the reimposition under abeyance “till further orders”.

While re-imposing the order from April, the MNRE said “Each project where the solar PV modules have been received at the project site by March 31, 2024 and is unable to get commissioned by that day, on account of reasons beyond the control of the renewable power developer, would be examined separately.”

Exemptions

In the order for FY24, the Ministry had said that projects commissioned by March 31, 2024 will be exempted from the requirement of procuring solar PV modules from ALMM.

The ALMM order was put in abeyance as developers raised concerns about ALMM due to inadequate domestic module manufacturing capacity, lower quality of domestic modules compared to Chinese tier-I manufacturers, and higher prices of domestic modules.

The ALMM applies to projects which are sponsored or subsidised by the government. ALMM will apply to the government or its agencies procuring power for its own consumption or for distribution to the people through Discoms.

The list also applies to solar PV rooftop and PM KUSUM, which are subsidised. The ALMM will not apply to projects set up under open access or as captive by private parties. In other words, ALMM will not be applicable for people who set up their own capacity.

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