The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has extended the timeline to complete solar and solar-wind hybrid project completions for bids received before March 9, 2021. This extension is available until March 2024.
On April 1, 2022, the Basic Customs Duty was imposed on solar cells and modules. The ministry pointed out that bids for many projects, which were submitted before the announcement, were not yet finalized due to the COVID-19 epidemic and subsequent supply chain disruptions.
MNRE stated that There are several projects for which bids were finalised by the agencies of the Govt (SECI/NTPC/NHPC) before the said announcement. Normally, these projects would have been completed before the imposition of BCD; however, because of disruptions, these projects could not be completed before the customs duty took effect. While a decision on bids which were finalised before the announcement of customer duty is pending, in the mean-time, the extended completion dates of many projects have expired.
It has therefore been decided that projects, for which bids were finalised before 9th March 2021 may be given time for completion of projects upto March 2024.
In December, the government granted the implementing agencies permission to extend the date for solar PV and solar-wind hybrid power projects’ commissioning until March 31, 2024 in an effort to alleviate the burden on renewable energy companies.
