The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has developed an online portal to ensure the traceability of domestically manufactured solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules and to assist in the verification of Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) in solar PV modules deployed across the country.

The portal will serve as the exclusive mechanism for DCR verification.

The portal, developed in consultation with solar manufacturers’ associations, is hosted on the website of the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) and can be accessed through the following link: https://solardcrportal.nise.res.in/

The portal offers a facility for DCR verification by entering a unique serial number affixed to each solar module. This feature will be used by MNRE for DCR verification in projects under MNRE’s programs that mandate DCR.

All solar manufacturers included in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) must register their manufacturing facilities on the portal. They must start feeding the requisite data into the system.

Manufacturers claiming DCR compliance must ensure accurate and timely data entry into the portal.

Failure to verify DCR compliance through the portal can lead to actions as specified by MNRE.

To promote domestic manufacturing, the government has introduced the DCR program, under which only solar cells and modules manufactured in India can be used to build solar projects auctioned under the DCR category.

Recently, Emmvee Photovoltaic Power, Vikram Solar, and ReNew were declared winners in NTPC Renewable Energy’s auction to supply 1.58 GW of crystalline solar bifacial modules for 1,255 MW projects at the Khavda Solar Park in Gujarat under the DCR category.

However, the DCR mandate was relaxed for solar cells used for feeder-level solarization of agricultural pumps under Component C of the PM-KUSUM program until March 31, 2024.

According to Mercom India Research’s recently released State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India 2024 Report, the country’s cumulative solar module manufacturing capacity and solar cell manufacturing capacity reached 64.5 GW and 5.8 GW, respectively, as of December 2023. The report forecasts that module manufacturing capacity will exceed 150 GW and cell capacity will reach over 75 GW by 2026.