The central government has come out with a clarification that an extension of the timeline for the completion of solar or hybrid projects for which bids were finalised before the announcement of the basic customs duty (BCD) on modules may not be given to all the affected project developers.
Projects, where the government finds that measures taken by the developer towards its implementation were inadequate, will be cancelled, it said. On February 15, the government issued an order stating that if any renewable energy project is not completed by the prescribed date of completion, then its bank guarantee would be encashed and the developer blacklisted for a period of three to five years after asking him/her to show cause.
On March 9, 2021, the Centre announced that from April 1, 2022, any import of solar PV modules would attract BCD of 40 percent and import of solar PV cells would attract BCD of 25 percent. The move affected solar projects of about 26,000 MW because of which on December 29 last year, MNRE said the projects for which bids were submitted before March 9, 2021, will be given the time for completion of the project up to March 2024.
In the latest order issued on May 1, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said the extension provided to complete such renewable energy projects is "not a general blanket extension". The government asked Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies (REIAs) such as SECI, NTPC and NHPC to "diligently examine" every request received for seeking extension of such projects under this policy on a "case-to-case basis".
"The REIAs shall grant time extensions in only such cases where the developer has diligently taken steps to complete the project but has not been able to complete it for reasons beyond his control," read the order issued by MNRE, a copy of which is with Moneycontrol
"Where the developer has taken no steps to implement the project but is merely sitting on the award, such projects shall not qualify for an extension, and consequence of cancellation of the project will follow," it said.
"This policy will apply to all cases of request for grant of extension - the developer must demonstrate that he has taken all possible measures to implement the project - but has not been able to do so for reasons beyond his control. The questions to be asked in such cases will be - Has the land been acquired? Have orders been placed for modules/ BoP (Balance of Plan)/ BoS (Balance of System), etc," the MNRE said.
Apart from the extension of the scheduled date of commissioning (SDC), the government on March 10 this year also exempted ongoing solar projects from the mandatory rule of procuring photovoltaic modules from the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM).
India’s aim is to install 280 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity by 2030, which means the country needs to add about 27 GW annually. At present, India has an installed solar capacity of about 63.89 GW.
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