The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued the revised Approved List of Models and Manufacturers List-II for solar cells, raising the cumulative annual production capacity to 18.48 GW.

Websol Energy System has been enlisted with a capacity of 602 MW/year for its bifacial, monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell technology cells at its West Bengal facility. These solar cells will have an average solar cell efficiency of 23.16% and an output of 7.66 W. 

The enlisted capacity will be valid until November 23, 2029.

The ALMM List-II will come into effect from July 1, 2026.

In September 2025, MNRE issued the second ALMM List-II with a total enlisted capacity of 4.8 GW, raising the enlisted capacity to 17.88 GW.

In August this year, the Ministry issued the first ALMM List-II for solar cells, enlisting nine domestic manufacturers with a cumulative annual production capacity of 13.067 GW.

In October, MNRE stressed the need to use ALMM List-II-compliant solar cells and called for the cancellation of tenders with short bid submission timelines intended to circumvent the solar cell mandate.

To ensure backward integration, the government proposed mandating the use of India-made wafers under the ALMM starting June 1, 2028. As per the proposed mandate, all solar cells listed in ALMM List-II must use wafers from ALMM List III (wafers). To be included in the ALMM-List III, the wafer manufacturer must also demonstrate equivalent ingot manufacturing capacity.

While the industry widely supports the government’s push for domestic manufacturing, the transition is expected to be uneven, with developers warning of cost increases and possible delays, and manufacturers racing to add capacity in time.

In July 2025, MNRE said that the applicability of ALMM provisions for solar cells in projects being used exclusively to charge ESS will depend on the ESS project’s exemption status. The solar project will be exempt from ALMM requirements if the ESS is already exempt. However, if the ESS is not exempt, then the solar project linked to it will also not be eligible for exemption.

Subscribe to Mercom’s real-time Regulatory Updates to ensure you don’t miss any critical updates from the renewable industry.