Imported silicon wafers are not compliant! India's new photovoltaic policy further strengthens local manufacturing

Recently, the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) released the Domestic Manufacturing Requirements (DCR) specification for photovoltaic cells.

According to regulations, photovoltaic cells based on crystalline silicon technology can only be classified as "Made in India" if they use non diffused silicon wafers (also known as "black silicon wafers") produced in India, which are classified under tariff head 3818.

If a company uses imported diffused silicon wafers (also known as blue silicon wafers), they will not be considered domestic photovoltaic cells and cannot be used for government plans and projects that require "domestically manufactured" cells.

In addition, MNRE stated that the thin-film photovoltaic modules produced by integrated factories in India comply with the government's DCR policy and can participate in relevant incentive programs.

India has introduced this regulation mainly to support domestic silicon wafer production enterprises. The photovoltaic industry in India is relatively weak in the production of silicon wafers and heavily relies on imports. Through this policy, the Indian government hopes to attract more investment into the domestic silicon wafer manufacturing field and gradually achieve independent and controllable control of the photovoltaic industry chain.