India eyeing safeguard duties on Chinese PV modules - report

The Indian government is mulling over the introduction of safeguard duties on solar module imports from China, the Hindu Business Line said Monday, citing sources.

Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, a member may take a safeguard action to protect the domestic industry from a jump in imports. According to Department of Commerce data, analysed by Mercom Capital Group, China’s market share in India was 88.1% in fiscal 2016-17. The total value of solar imports in the period stood at USD 3.2 billion (EUR 2.8bn), up by 36% year-on-year. China’s share stood at roughly USD 2.8 billion.

Business Line cited Anand Kumar, Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), as saying that a safeguard duty is one of the options considered by the government to protect Indian solar product manufacturers.

The Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) in June filed a petition calling for an investigation into solar imports from China, Malaysia and Taiwan, which it said were hurting the local industry. Previous attempt to introduce anti-dumping duties on photovoltaic (PV) cell and module imports to India have failed.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.87)

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