Surat: A delegation led by Nikhil Madrasi, President of The Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI), met Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in New Delhi. During the meeting, SGCCI made a representation to extend the date of mandatory implementation of ALMM–II approved solar cells by one year.
Referring to the order issued by the Ministry on December 9, 2024, the Chamber delegation said that the use of solar cells approved under ALMM-II has been made mandatory for grid-connected solar power projects from June 1, 2026. However, keeping in mind the current industry situation, it was requested to postpone the implementation of this decision till June 1, 2027.
The Chamber, while making a presentation to the Secretary, informed that at present the production capacity of TOPCon solar cells in India is about 12 GW, while the demand for it in the market is much higher. On the other hand, the production of Mono PERC solar cells in the country is more than TOPCon solar, but there is no demand for it, due to which the balance between demand and supply is not maintained in the market.
In addition, the Chamber delegation drew the attention of the Secretary that there is a significant difference in quality between TOPCon cells manufactured in the country and imported TOPCon cells. As domestic cells are still in the development stage compared to international standards, it may affect the efficiency of solar projects.
The chamber further said that there is also a big difference in price between domestic TOPCon cells and imported TOPCon cells, which is about Rs 9 per watt. That is, there is an additional cost of about Rs 90 lakh per megawatt. This additional cost may increase the capital cost of solar projects and create the possibility of creating inefficient assets.
The chamber further told the Secretary that if this rule is implemented in the current situation, there is a possibility of increasing the cost of solar projects and may also affect the pace of development of solar power capacity in the country. This situation may pose a challenge to the Government of India to achieve the target of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Keeping all these issues in mind, the Chamber requested for extension of the date of mandatory implementation of ALMM-II approved solar cells till June 1, 2027.
