💡 ALMM List-II Solar Exemption 2026: Key Highlights
- MNRE extended the ALMM List-II exemption for net-metering and open-access solar projects from 31 May 2026 to 31 December 2026 (announced 18 July 2026).
- This is not a blanket relief — MNRE explicitly ruled out any general extension for solar power projects at large.
- Only two categories affected: net-metering (rooftop-type) projects and open-access / group-captive renewable power projects.
- Full ALMM List-II enforcement, in place since 1 June 2026, continues unchanged everywhere else — utility-scale tenders, subsidised rooftop schemes, other government-linked procurement.
- Stated rationale: protect standalone module manufacturers’ existing cell inventory while domestic List-II cell capacity keeps rising. Reference: MNRE O.M. No. 283/53/2026-GRID SOLAR, 18 July 2026.
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has extended the ALMM List-II solar exemption 2026 for two specific categories of renewable projects — net-metering and open-access installations — pushing their compliance deadline from 31 May 2026 to 31 December 2026. The move gives developers racing an approaching cutoff seven more months of breathing room, while domestic module manufacturers get more time to convert their sourcing to List-II-approved solar cells. It is a narrow, targeted extension, not a rollback of India’s domestic-content push for solar manufacturing.
What Is ALMM, and Why Does It Have Two Lists?
The Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) is India’s domestic-content mandate for solar equipment — a government-maintained list of manufacturers whose products qualify for subsidised or government-linked projects. Think of it as a quality-and-origin gate: equipment off the list can’t be used in the projects the rule covers.
List-I vs List-II, in plain terms
List-I covers finished solar modules — the panels themselves — and decides which panels are eligible for schemes like PM Surya Ghar. List-II is newer and stricter: it governs the solar cells packed inside those panels. Since 1 June 2026, every List-I panel has had to use cells sourced exclusively from a List-II-approved domestic manufacturer. Before that, panel makers could assemble modules domestically while still importing the cells inside them — largely from China. List-II closes that gap, pushing manufacturing value further upstream and reducing reliance on imported solar cells.
What Changed: ALMM List-II Solar Exemption 2026 Explained
On 18 July 2026, MNRE issued O.M. No. 283/53/2026-GRID SOLAR, extending a limited exemption window that already existed for two categories of solar projects. It’s worth being precise about what this is and isn’t: MNRE was explicit that there is no blanket extension of ALMM List-II for solar power projects at large — full compliance continues everywhere it already applied. What did move is narrower: net-metering projects (rooftop-type installations exporting surplus power back to the grid) and open-access renewable power projects (including group-captive setups, where large consumers source power directly from a generator) can continue to commission without ALMM List-II compliance until 31 December 2026, up from the previous cutoff of 31 May 2026 — roughly seven more months for these two segments only. From 1 January 2027, they too must source modules from List-I and cells from List-II, same as everyone else.
Who Benefits — and What Stays the Same
Two groups gain directly. Developers of net-metering and open-access projects racing the original May 2026 deadline — mid-commissioning rooftop-type installations and open-access solar deals — now have until end-December instead of scrambling to re-source compliant cells at short notice. Domestic standalone module manufacturers are the second beneficiary: many built up work-in-progress inventory using cells procured before List-II capacity scaled up, and an abrupt switch would have stranded it.
What hasn’t changed matters just as much: this is strictly a two-category carve-out. Utility-scale solar tenders, subsidised rooftop schemes under PM Surya Ghar, and other government-linked procurement remain fully subject to ALMM List-II from 1 June 2026 onward, no extension involved. For homeowners and businesses weighing whether to export surplus rooftop solar back to the grid through net metering, or trade it directly with neighbours instead, YoGrid’s comparison of net metering versus peer-to-peer energy trading is a useful next read — this extension applies squarely to the net-metering side of that comparison.
What It Means for India’s Solar Manufacturing Push
Read alongside MNRE’s own framing, this extension is continued fine-tuning of India’s domestic solar manufacturing policy — not a retreat from its Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) manufacturing ambitions. MNRE has taken this calibrated approach before: List-I compliance itself was delayed several times between 2023 and 2026 to let domestic capacity catch up before enforcement began in earnest. List-II is now getting the same treatment for the two segments closest to an unworkable deadline, while enforcement everywhere else holds firm.
The underlying goal remains reducing India’s dependence on imported solar cells, historically sourced mostly from China — a dependency the broader domestic content requirement policy family, of which ALMM is a part, is designed to shrink. Industry estimates put approved List-II domestic cell capacity at roughly 30 GW by mid-2026 and climbing — the backdrop for choosing a narrow extension over a disorderly transition for two vulnerable categories. The policy direction hasn’t reversed; the runway for two specific groups has simply gotten seven months longer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between ALMM List-I and List-II?
List-I covers finished solar modules (panels); List-II covers the solar cells inside those panels. Since 1 June 2026, List-I panels have had to use cells sourced only from List-II-approved manufacturers.
Does the December 2026 extension apply to all solar projects?
No. It applies only to net-metering (rooftop-type) and open-access/group-captive renewable power projects, which can now commission without ALMM List-II compliance until 31 December 2026, up from 31 May 2026. Every other category remains fully subject to ALMM List-II from 1 June 2026.
Why did MNRE extend the exemption instead of enforcing it from June 2026?
MNRE says the extension protects standalone module manufacturers’ existing cell inventory and gives them time to shift sourcing to List-II-enlisted cell manufacturers as domestic cell capacity continues to rise.
What happens to these projects after 31 December 2026?
From 1 January 2027, net-metering and open-access renewable power projects will need to source modules from ALMM List-I and cells from ALMM List-II, the same as all other covered solar projects.
Source: Press Information Bureau — Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, 18 July 2026 (PRID 2286144).