Solar module cos seek more time to comply with local sourcing

New Delhi: A group of solar module manufacturers have raised concerns over the availability of domestic cells and asked for an extension of the deadline to implement compulsory local sourcing of cells beyond January, people aware of the development said.

In a representation made to the Niti Aayog, the Renewable Energy Manufacturers Association of India, which represents non-integrated module manufacturers having a nameplate capacity of 160 GW, said local module capacity had outrun compliant cell supply and module-only manufacturers were carrying the cost.

Local sourcing rules, which seek to support domestic manufacturing, require procurement of equipment and components for solar projects from a list of approved domestic suppliers. The renewable energy ministry's Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) List-II came into effect on June 1 this year. The list requires the use of solar cells, for making modules, from approved manufacturers in projects covered by the mandate.

For major projects, the deadline to comply with the rules was extended to December from June. The requirement was notified in December 2024, giving manufacturers and project developers time to prepare. In May, the ministry ruled out a blanket extension of the June 1 deadline but allowed project developers to seek case-specific relief.

Subsequently, in July, the government extended the exemption for net-metering and open-access renewable energy projects until December. The extension did not change the June 1 implementation date for ALMM List-II, which continues to apply to other projects covered by the mandate. The 'only module' makers now want this deadline to be extended till 2027 December, said one of the persons.

The module-only makers have now raised the issue of the gap between module making and the corresponding cells capacity. The industry body, which was earlier called the All India Solar Manufacturers Association, is seeking a time-bound and availability-linked bridge for this. There is 95 GW of producible TOPCon module capacity against 15.8 GW of enlisted TOPCon cells, the association said. It also pointed out that only under 2% of producible TOPCon module capacity was available in the open market while the rest were used in-house by integrated groups.