India made solar panels long before it made many of them. MNRE dates module manufacturing capacity at 2.3 GW in 2014 and cell capacity at 1.2 GW. The turn came with the ALMM Order of 2 January 2019, which set up two lists — List-I for modules and List-II for cells — and required government and government-assisted projects to buy only from them. The effective date was pushed from 31 March 2020 to 30 September 2020 because of the pandemic, and the first List-I was finally published on 10 March 2021 with about 8.2 GW enlisted from 21 manufacturers. Concessional customs duty on equipment for solar projects was withdrawn from 2 February 2021, basic customs duty on imported cells and modules took effect on 1 April 2022, and the Cabinet approved the PLI scheme in two tranches, ₹4,500 crore on 7 April 2021 and ₹19,500 crore on 21 September 2022.
Solar Manufacturing · Modules & Cells
A solar panel is built in stages: polysilicon is drawn into an ingot, the ingot is sliced into wafers, wafers become cells, and cells are laid up into a module. India's factories now cover the last stage at scale. MNRE puts solar PV module manufacturing capacity at 2.3 GW in 2014 and about 172 GW as on 31 March 2026, measured from 2021 onwards as the capacity enlisted in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) List-I. The stages above the module are much thinner: cell capacity enlisted under ALMM List-II stood at 27 GW in March 2026, and about 2 GW of ingot-wafer capacity had been set up under the PLI scheme by June 2026. The counter tracks module capacity only.
| Year | Solar PV module manufacturing capacity |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 2.3 GW |
| 2021 | 8.2 GW |
| 2023 | 22.4 GW |
| 2024 | 38.0 GW |
| 2025 | 74.0 GW |
| 2026 | 172.0 GW |
| Dashed bars are years the source does not publish; the shape between published years is drawn, not measured. | |
Why it matters Until recently most panels installed in India were imported. The Cabinet note of 7 April 2021 said plainly that solar capacity addition then depended largely on imported cells and modules. Building the panels here shortens the supply chain and keeps more of the value at home; imports of solar modules fell from about USD 4,354 million in 2023-24 to about USD 994 million in 2025-26. Cells, wafers, ingots and polysilicon are still largely bought abroad, and MNRE says so in its own orders.
- The ALMM Order was issued on 2 January 2019; the first List-I for modules was published on 10 March 2021 with about 8.2 GW enlisted from 21 manufacturers, and by 13 August 2025 it held 100 GW across 100 manufacturers running 123 units
- ALMM List-II for solar PV cells was introduced by an amendment of 9 December 2024, the first list was issued on 31 July 2025, and sourcing cells from it became mandatory for projects commissioned from 1 June 2026; the list had reached 27 GW by 18 March 2026
- The PLI scheme for High Efficiency Solar PV Modules has an outlay of ₹24,000 crore — ₹4,500 crore approved by the Cabinet on 7 April 2021 and ₹19,500 crore on 21 September 2022 — with Letters of Award for 48,337 MW of fully or partially integrated capacity
- Under the PLI scheme, as on 30 June 2026 about 42 GW of module, 11.5 GW of cell and about 2 GW of ingot-wafer capacity had been set up, with investments of about ₹73,400 crore
- Solar module imports fell from about USD 4,354 million in FY 2023-24 to about USD 2,152 million in FY 2024-25 and about USD 994 million in FY 2025-26; solar panels worth USD 1,031.36 million were exported in 2022-23
- Domestic Content Requirement applies where the government gives a subsidy — CPSU Scheme Phase-II, PM-KUSUM and the rooftop solar programme must source cells and modules from domestic sources — and basic customs duty on imported cells and modules took effect on 1 April 2022
History
Notable milestone
On 13 August 2025 MNRE announced that module manufacturing capacity enlisted under ALMM had crossed 100 GW, up from about 8.2 GW at the first list in 2021 — more than twelvefold in a little over four years — with 100 manufacturers operating 123 units. The March-end readings show the same climb: 38 GW in March 2024, 74 GW in March 2025 and about 172 GW as on 31 March 2026, roughly 98 GW of it added in 2025-26 alone. Over the same stretch solar module imports fell from about USD 4,354 million in 2023-24 to about USD 994 million in 2025-26. Cells followed later and from a lower base: capacity rose from 1.2 GW in 2014 to 9 GW in March 2024 and 25 GW in March 2025, and the ALMM List-II for cells reached 27 GW within seven months of its first publication.
How it works
Two instruments do most of the work. ALMM is a compulsory registration list: only models and manufacturers on List-I may supply modules to government projects, government-assisted projects, projects under government schemes, and open-access or net-metering projects, including projects bid out under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003. From 1 June 2026 those modules must in turn use cells from List-II, with a limited window to 31 December 2026 for net-metering and open-access projects. The PLI scheme pays a production-linked incentive for five years after commissioning, on sales of high-efficiency modules, with the amount rising for higher module efficiency and greater local value addition; IREDA ran Tranche-I and SECI ran Tranche-II. Alongside these sit the Domestic Content Requirement in subsidy schemes, the ‘Make in India' public-procurement preference, and basic customs duty on imported cells and modules. Capacity is not production: MNRE has told Parliament that module manufacturers are not required to report production to the ministry, so that data is not held there.
Outlook
The unfinished part of the chain is upstream. MNRE's own release of 18 March 2026 says wafers are the critical stage between polysilicon and cells, that India has limited domestic wafer capacity and relies substantially on imports. Its Office Memorandum of 17 March 2026 creates ALMM List-III for wafers, effective 1 June 2028, and will not issue the list until at least three independently owned units together reach 15 GW a year; enlisted wafer makers must also hold matching ingot capacity. From the effective date, List-I will admit only modules made with ALMM-listed cells and wafers. Under the PLI scheme about 2 GW of ingot-wafer capacity had been set up by 30 June 2026 and 8 of 12 beneficiaries had begun production at some stage of the chain. No official figure for installed polysilicon capacity in India has been published; in December 2025 MNRE circulated the status of capacity across modules, cells, ingots-wafers and polysilicon to lenders, asking them to look beyond module plants to the upstream stages.
Data current to: As on 31 March 2026 (MNRE, 8 April 2026)
Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy via PIB — solar PV module manufacturing capacity in GW at official dated readings: 2.3 GW in 2014, 8.2 GW in the first ALMM List-I of 10 March 2021, about 22.4 GW per annum on 23 March 2023, 38 GW in March 2024, 74 GW in March 2025 and about 172 GW as on 31 March 2026. ALMM did not exist in 2014; from 2021 the figure is the capacity enlisted in MNRE's Approved List of Models and Manufacturers, List-I, which MNRE itself carries forward from the 2014 base. Years with no official reading are left blank, and nothing is interpolated. Cell capacity is a separate and much smaller number and is never merged into this series: ALMM List-II for solar PV cells had reached 27 GW by 18 March 2026. This is capacity, not production; MNRE has told Parliament that module makers do not report production to the ministry. Headline: MNRE year-end statement of 8 April 2026 (linked). · link