Govt plans to register only India-made solar panels under ALMM, says RK Singh, Minister for New & Renewable Energy

The government is planning to register solar panels made up of only domestically manufactured cells, wafers and polysilicon under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers in the next 3-4 years.
Minister for New and Renewable Energy RK Singh has also asked the concerned officers of his ministry to prepare a policy in this regard.

ALMM was introduced by the government to boost domestic manufacturing of solar panels.

The modules with less efficiency are removed from the ALMM, the minister said.

"We will evolve our policies. We will only protect those modules, which are made-in-India cells. In one or two years, we will bring such a policy. Then again, after 1-2 years, we will bring a policy that wafers and polysilicon should also be made in India.

"We only register those players under ALMM whose cell, wafers and polysilicon are India-made," Singh said.

The move will help in real 'Make-in-India'. The government will not promote the import of components of solar panels in the next few years, the minister said.

"You import cell from outside and assemble here and sell it saying it is made in India, whereas it is 90 per cent made in China this will not do," he said, adding that the ministry will also do a review of the ALMM next year.

The government will not allow the manufacturers to endorse any outdated equipment or technology to protect the interest of the people of India, Singh added.