India added 3.2 GW of new solar open access capacity in 2023, the most in any calendar year to date, with the top five states accounting for 84.2% of the new installed capacity. The installations surged 5.7% YoY from 3 GW in 2022, according to the recently released 2023 Q4 and Annual Mercom India Solar Open Access Market Report. The Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) order suspension and the fall in module prices helped significantly reduce project costs during the year. Lower costs allowed developers to offer open access solar power at significantly lower tariffs, leading to higher capacity additions.

The recent reimposition of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) regulation has surprised industry stakeholders as the government withdrew exemptions for open access and unsubsidized rooftop solar projects. The initial reimposition order in February was put in abeyance by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) just days after it was notified. The ALMM regulation, effective April 1, 2024, is now being reimposed in its original form from October 2022, with all categories of projects, including open access and rooftop solar, coming under its purview.

JSW Energy, a private sector power producer, has completed a ₹50 billion (~$600 million) qualified institutions placement (QIP), attracting strong interest from marquee global and domestic institutional investors. The QIP, marking the first-ever equity raise by the company since its listing in 2010, was oversubscribed over 3.2 times, it said in a statement. It claimed it was also the largest primary equity raise in the Indian power sector in the last decade and among the top three largest ever in the history of the Indian power sector.

The European Commission has launched two in-depth investigations into Chinese solar component manufacturers who may have benefited from state subsidies to win a bid to design, construct, and operate a 110 MW solar photovoltaic park in Romania. The investigations relate to the potentially market distortive role of foreign subsidies given to Chinese companies — LONGi Solar Technologie GmbH and two subsidiaries of Chinese state-owned firm Shanghai Electric — in a public procurement procedure. The Commission will assess whether the companies benefited from an unfair advantage in winning public contracts in the EU.