India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced several reforms in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) for solar modules on Monday, 15th May 2023.
With these changes, the ministry aims to reduce the cost to PV manufacturers and the time between application and enlistment. The measures will help improve the ease of doing business with the ALMM process and encourage more private participation in the sector.
The modifications decided are as follows:
1. ALMM enlistment validity increased from 2 years to 4 years
2. The application fee for enlisting in ALMM reduced by 80%
3. The inspection fee will get reduced by up to 70%.
4. Exemption from factory inspection in case a company decides to enlist additional modules in the ALMM which are similar to the previous modules but have a lower wattage
5. Manufacturers are now allowed to withdraw their application before factory enlistment and receive a 90% refund of the application fee.
6. Provisional enlistment in ALMM is to be granted within 7 days of receipt of BIS registration.
7. All ALMM applications will be accompanied by their respective soft copies. Also, the processing of ALMM applications will begin immediately, and the hard copies can be submitted later.
8. New end-use category-wise minimum module efficiency thresholds introduced for enlistment in ALMM
- Utility/ Grid-Scale Power Plants: 20%
- Rooftop and Solar Pumping: 19.5%
- Solar Lighting: 19%
“…We have already declared the bid trajectory of inviting bids of 50 GW renewables each year for the next 5 years. This includes 40 GW of Solar energy capacity. The bid trajectory is aimed at providing a fillip to the RE manufacturing industry in the country by indicating the demand that would be created. The easing of the ALMM charges and regulations is a step in the direction of enhancing the Ease of Doing Business, lessening the compliance burden, and reducing the charges incurred in various processes of listing under ALMM,” said Mr. B. S Bhalla, secretary, MNRE.
In 2019, the MNRE introduced the ALMM, which mandated the use of modules from only those manufacturers that were included in the list, for government and net metering solar projects.
However, to boost PV deployment in the nation, the ministry has put ALMM on hold for one financial year (till March 31st, 2024).
Click Here for more updates
Resource: MNRE
Leave A Comment