The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has updated the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) with the addition of five new entrants with a cumulative module manufacturing capacity of 343 MW.

The five new entrants are SAEL (141 MW), Rhine Solar (43 MW), Spark Solar (42 MW), Genus Innovation (22 MW), and Fujiyama Power Systems (95 MW).

With the latest additions, the ALMM now has 82 module manufacturers with 19.19 GW of listed module capacity.

Even after the latest update, the ALMM has no Chinese manufacturers.

Only such models have been considered for enlistment in the ALMM List-1, whose module efficiency is greater than or equal to 19%. The ministry said solar module manufacturers whose models’ validity expired on March 9, 2023, and had not applied for renewal, have been delisted.

In March this year, MNRE modified the ALMM guidelines and provided exceptions to broaden the qualification criteria for modules produced under agreements between original equipment manufacturers and brand owners.

Under the revised guidelines, if an applicant has multiple manufacturing sites or sources the finished products from other manufacturers and sells them under their brand name, all manufacturing sites, including the applicant’s own, must be inspected unless an exception applies.

The amended rules came after the implementation of the ALMM order for the financial year 2023-24 was put on hold by the government. As a result, solar projects commissioned by March 31, 2024, will be exempted from the requirement of procuring modules listed under ALMM.

Last October, MNRE clarified that open access and net metering renewable energy projects that had applied for approval before October 1, 2022, would not come under the purview of the ALMM. It also stated that the ALMM mandate would not apply to behind-the-meter solar power projects used for captive consumption by a consumer or group of consumers.

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