The Indian Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, on February 25th, 2015 approved the implementation of the scheme for setting up 15,000 megawatts (MW) of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects under the National Solar Mission through in three tranches.

Successful completion of additional 15 gigawatts (GW) capacity of grid-connected solar PV power generation projects, mainly in the private sector, with largely private investment, under the National Solar Mission would accelerate the process of achieving grid tariff parity for solar power and also help reduce consumption of kerosene and diesel, which is presently in use to meet the unmet demand, the government emphasizes.

Quantity of Domestic Content Requirement will be prescribed by MNRE, and based on the prevailing market conditions

Some capacity will be earmarked out of the total procurement with provisions of domestically manufactured solar cells as well as PV modules. The quantity to be fixed with Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) in each tender will be prescribed by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) based on the prevailing market conditions from time to time.

Bids received under both the categories (one with DCR requirement and the other without any such requirement) will be evaluated and successful bidders selected independently. Further, this DCR will also be technology agnostic that is applied on both the crystalline silicon and thin film SPV cells and modules.