Renewable energy industry associations have filed a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court to set aside the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) mandate requiring solar cells to be sourced from the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers List-II (ALMM-II) from June 1, 2026.

The petitioners sought that enforcement of the ALMM List-II be deferred until India’s installed solar cell manufacturing capacity is sufficient to meet demand for projects covered by the ALMM framework.

Pending orders on the petition, the associations have requested the Karnataka High Court to grant an interim stay on the ALMM List-II mandate.

The writ petition challenging MNRE’s ALMM List-II mandate was filed by the Karnataka Renewable Energy System Manufacturers Association, the Kerala Renewable Energy Entrepreneurs and Promoters Association, and the Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Developers Association.

The associations said that the enforcement of ALMM List-II has led to a 170% increase in solar cell prices. Solar cells sourced from ALMM-listed manufacturers cost around ₹12 (~$0.13)/W, compared to the international market price of ₹5 (~$0.05)/W.

They contended that this could increase the cost of ALMM-compliant modules to approximately ₹24 (~$0.25)/W from ₹14 (~$0.15)/W under the earlier free cell sourcing arrangement.

Of approximately 30 GW of ALMM-listed cell capacity, only 4-5.3 GW is based on TOPCon technology. This, they said, would force manufacturers to rely on older and less efficient Mono PERC cells.

According to the petitioners, a shift from TOPCon to Mono PERC would significantly increase solar project costs. A Mono PERC-based project would cost around ₹45 million (~$472,000)/MW, compared to ₹30 million (~$315,000)/MW for a TOPCon-based project, resulting in an increase of ₹15 million (~$157,000)/MW.

The higher cost of projects using Mono PERC would stem from lower yield per unit area, which would require additional land, mounting structures, and cables, the petitioners said.

They argued that the cost escalation would make a substantial portion of renewable energy developers’ project pipelines unviable and could trigger defaults under existing loan covenants.

The petitioners said that EPC contractors and project developers had entered into binding procurement contracts and signed power purchase agreements and loan agreements with lenders based on their ability to source solar cells from competitive global or domestic suppliers outside the ALMM List-II.

The imposition of the cell sourcing mandate from ALMM-listed manufacturers makes the performance of such contracts commercially impractical, causing downstream tariff disruption and exposing them to contractual liability, the petitioners said.

The associations claimed that the MNRE did not consult stakeholders before issuing the compliance deadline, rendering the order procedurally improper.

They added that any delay in commissioning solar projects due to supply chain constraints would also affect India’s ability to meet its renewable purchase obligation targets.

Recently, the MNRE asked all manufacturers listed on the ALMM to submit monthly price ranges for domestically manufactured solar cells and modules to prevent opportunistic profiteering.

The MNRE also constituted an expert committee to examine applications from net metering and open-access renewable energy projects seeking an extension for commissioning beyond May 31, 2026, to comply with the ALMM List-II mandate.

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