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The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) on Monday said it has revised the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) regulations to increase the participation of the private sector in the renewable energy manufacturing supply chain.
The objective behind the review is to reduce compliance costs for solar PV manufacturers and bring down the cost and time for filing applications and enhance the ease of doing business.
Key reforms
Key reforms include reducing application fee for inclusion in the ALMM list by 80 per cent, slashing the inspection fee in some cases by 70 per cent and an exemption from factory inspection for enlisting additional models in the ALMM which are similar to the ones already enlisted by the manufacturer.
Analysts pointed out that India’s solar power targets suggest it lacks the required manufacturing capacity for solar cells. Therefore, it is imperative to prioritise and increase the manufacturing capacity for solar cells in India to achieve COP26 pledged targets of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030.
Supporting domestic manufacturing
MNRE Secretary B S Bhalla said that changes in the ALMM for photovoltaic (PV) modules would enhance the ease of doing business and help in ramping up domestic production of solar PV modules for catering to the current and the future demand.
“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,” he added.
Bhalla pointed out that the government has declared the bid trajectory of inviting bids of 50 GW renewables each year for the next 5 years, which is aimed at providing a fillip to RE manufacturing industry in the country by indicating the demand that would be created.
ALMM reforms
The major reforms by the MNRE include allowing manufacturers to withdraw applications prior to factory inspection with a refund of 90 per cent of the application fee and to increase the ALMM enlistment validity from 2 years to 4 years.
“Grant of provisional enlistment in ALMM within 7 days of receipt of BIS registration and time-limit of two months for factory enlistment and final enlistment, failing which deemed enlistment,” MNRE said.
Besides, MNRE has introduced an end-use category-wise minimum module efficiency threshold for enlistment in ALMM with utility or grid scale power plants at 20 per cent, rooftop and solar pumping (19.50 per cent) and solar lighting (19 per cent).
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