MNRE Rolls Out Modalities For Import Of Key Solar, Wind Equipment

In a recent move, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a new notification elaborating on the modalities for the mandatory registration of key renewable energy equipment in the country.

This comes days after the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification mandating the registration of all imports of key renewable energy items such as solar cells, solar glass, and wind energy equipment.

The ministry said that importers can use the online portal developed by MNRE and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for the same. “The online portal is available at www.reims.mnre.gov.in. All concerned importers can register the details of their imports through the portal,” MNRE said.

MNRE stated that imports need to be registered based on the Import Export Code (IEC) generated with DGFT. It added that after submission of the application, the importer must generate the certificate from the REEIMS portal. The final generated certificate will be available for download and can also be viewed on the front end of the portal.

According to the latest MNRE guidebook, exporters need to submit details such as the exporter’s name, address, port of exportation, and expiry date of export. On the other hand, importers must provide the purpose of import, including whether the supply is intended for self-use, manufacturing, export, supply under EPC contracts, system installation, or research and development activities.

Importers must also specify the mode of transportation used for shipping the material, the expected port of entry, and the expected date of import.

As per the norms, companies must use this process if they are importing solar modules, solar glass, or solar cells. In the case of imports of towers, blades, nacelles, rotor hubs, main bearing housings, generators, gearboxes, or other wind turbine components, importers must also use the same registration method.

In terms of technology, importers are also required to provide information such as capacity, unit of measurement, model number, and quantity of imports, among other details.