- Approved Models and Manufacturers of Solar Photovoltaic Modules Order, 2019 by Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE) requires makers of solar modules (SM) to voluntarily submit to an inspection.
- Inspection is done by National Institute of Solar Energy, MNRE affiliated body.
- Being on list as an ‘approved’ manufacturing facility, certifies a company as legitimate manufacturer of solar panels and not a mere importer or assembler.
- Benefits:
- Only models and manufacturers included in list are eligible for use in Government Projects and Government Schemes etc.
- Reduce dependency on imports from China (which controls 80% of global supply).
- Ensure livelihood generation and manufacturing at local level.
- India’s solar modules manufacturing capacity is around 50 GW and installed capacity of solar cell manufacturing is around 6 GW.
- Around 11.17 billion USD of solar cells and modules have been imported into the country in last five years.
- China produced 57% to 100% of Indian imports of products including modules, cells, wafers and solar glass (since 2021).
- Reasons for import dependence: Insufficient domestic manufacturing capacity; high costs of domestic solar PV panels, India has limited production of wafers or polysilicon etc.
Initiatives facilitating domestic solar module manufacturing
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