ALMM: India’s Enlisted Module Production Capacity Crossed 60 GW

ALMM: India's Enlisted Module Production Capacity Crossed 60 GW

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) today issued the fresh Approved List For Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) for the solar module makers. The latest list saw a surge in the enlisted production capacity of Indian solar module manufacturers.

With the inclusion of the new enlisted capacities, India’s cumulative enlisted domestic module manufacturing capacity crossed 60 GW (60,444 MW to be precise). The latest ALMM witnessed capacity expansion by four solar module manufacturers and a reduction of enlisted capacity by one solar module maker.

The ministry issued the last list on October 14 this year. Since then, the ALMM added 2 GW of new solar module manufacturing capacity. The spur in domestic module production was triggered by the first ever addition of 572 MW of  capacities by First Solar (FS) Green Energy and 203 MW of new capacities by Hexatron Industries.

The companies which saw addition of new capacities against their existing capacities included-Avaada Electro (611 MW of new capacity addition), Vikram Solar (309 MW), Icon Solar En (209 MW), Alpex Solar (175 MW). Aatmanirbhar Solar witnessed a reduction in its enlisted capacity from 100 MW to 93 MW, the revised ALMM said.

The ministry had brought the concept of ALMM to list the solar module models and manufacturers under one list. The ministry, in an attempt to boost domestic production made rules to use only the services of ALMM enlisted companies and models for government solar projects. This led to a setback to the Chinese solar module companies, operating in India who were allegedly dumping their solar modules in India at throwaway prices.

The domestic solar companies use the list to enlist their new models. The ministry, with the passage of time has also changed the norms of for inclusion of the firms under the list. This included specifying a minimum efficiency level for rooftop, utility scale and other projects. It later also brought notification to clarify that besides conventional Silicon-based solar modules, thin solar panels comprising Cadmium-Tellurium will also be applicable. It was because companies like First Solar were into the business of making thin film solar panels with Cadmium and Tellurium.