Indian Solar Wafer Policy 2028: ALMM Rules, Deadline, Impact

What Is India's New Solar Ingot and Wafer Policy Under ALMM?

In short, ALMM List-III is a new tier of India's approved-manufacturer system. It lists the wafer makers whose products solar projects covered by ALMM may use.

MNRE announced the expansion on 18 March 2026. The order extends sourcing requirements, already in place for modules and cells, to ingots and wafers.

The ALMM Order, 2019 is a quality-and-reliability framework. It can be described as applying to projects awarded through competitive bidding under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003, and to net-metering and open-access projects.

List-I covers modules and List-II covers cells. Under the amendment, covered projects must use modules from List-I, built with cells from List-II, which in turn use wafers from List-III.

Why MNRE is moving upstream:

India has limited domestic wafer capacity and relies substantially on imports.

The government expects the MNRE solar ingot and wafer rules to draw investment into upstream plants, improve supply-chain security, ensure traceability from wafer to module and create skilled jobs.

These are the government's stated expectations, not outcomes. Whether they materialize depends on the capacity that is actually built.

Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, described the extension of ALMM to ingots and wafers as a decisive step towards strengthening India’s solar manufacturing ecosystem.

He added that the move would boost domestic production, improve supply-chain resilience, reduce import dependence and raise quality standards across the value chain.

Ingot, wafer, cell and module:

Each stage turns the previous one into a more finished product:

• Polysilicon: the purified silicon raw material.
• Ingot: polysilicon melted and grown into a solid crystalline block.
• Wafer: a thin slice cut from an ingot. Wafers are the critical intermediate stage between polysilicon and solar cells.
• Cell: a wafer processed so that it can convert sunlight into electricity.
• Module: many cells assembled, wired and framed into the panel installed on site.

Ingots and wafers therefore sit upstream of cells and modules. A wafer maker needs ingots first, which is why the order ties the two together. Manufacturers seeking enlistment for wafers must also hold equivalent ingot manufacturing capacity.

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