The third phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) will not require developers to adhere to the existing domestic sourcing regulations. “The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is in regular touch with all power producers under the programme, and is confident that all ongoing projects will be implemented by December,” a government official said.
India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
- Firstly, JNNSM was launched in January 2010 by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with a target of deploying 20 GW of grid-connected solar power by 2022
- The mission is aimed at reducing the cost of solar power generation in the country through long term policy, large scale deployment goals, aggressive R&D and domestic production of critical raw materials, components and products
- There are three phases to the mission with the following capacity targets for Solar utility grid power including roof top
- Phase 1 (2010-2013): target of 1,000 – 2,000 MW capacity grid solar projects
- Phase 2 (2013-2017): cumulative target of 4,000-10,000 MW
- Lastly, Phase 3 (2017-2022): cumulative target of 20,000 MW
- Finally, the target of grid connected solar power projects was revised to 100 GW by the government and approved by the cabinet in June 2015 with the following year wise targets (with 3,743 MW commissioned up to 2014-15):
| Year | Rooftop Solar
(MW) |
Ground Mounted Solar
(MW) |
Total
(MW) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 200 | 1,800 | 2,000 |
| 2016-17 | 4,800 | 7,200 | 12,000 |
| 2017-18 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 |
| 2018-19 | 6,000 | 10,000 | 16,000 |
| 2019-20 | 7,000 | 10,000 | 17,000 |
| 2020-21 | 8,000 | 9,500 | 17,500 |
| 2021-22 | 9,000 | 8,500 | 17,500 |
| Total | 40,000 | 57,000 | 97,000 |
Disputes around domestic sourcing norms
- United States of America (USA) challenged the domestic-sourcing norms in JNNSM
- These norms require developers to use Indian-made equipment. During Phase 1 of JNNSM, domestic sourcing norms covered solar cells and modules. However, Phase 2 extended this to thin film technologies
- USA alleged that the requirement is discriminatory, against international norms and World Trade Organization (WTO) laws and affects US solar panel manufacturers
- The World Trade Organization declared the requirement as illegal. It ruled that India must remove the requirements or face trade sanction. The US decided to give the country 14 months to implement the WTO’s verdict. Hence, India has time till December 14, 2017, to implement it
India is hopeful of adhering to the World Trade Organisation’s year-end deadline for removing the compulsory domestic-sourcing clause in its national solar energy generation programme, as all ongoing projects are likely to be complete by then, a government official has said.
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