India’s renewables ministry against solar anti-dumping duties

May 30, 2014 - India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has voiced its opposition to the Commerce Ministry's plans to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of photovoltaic (PV) cells from the US, China, Malaysia and Taiwan, the Asian Age said Thursday.

At the end of last week, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry proposed anti-dumping duties of between USD 0.11 and USD 0.81 (EUR 0.08-0.60) per watt. The duties for China-made solar cells are the highest -- USD 0.64-0.81 per watt, while US producers will face charges of between USD 0.11 and USD 0.48 per watt. PV cells from Malaysia and Taiwan may get duties of USD 0.62 per watt and USD 0.59 per watt, respectively.

According to MNRE’s joint secretary Tarun Kapoor "it is not the right time" for the introduction of anti-dumping levies due to the large number of projects in the pipeline. India’s Finance Ministry will have the final say on the case.

According to the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) dumping of PV products by Chinese, Taiwanese, Malaysian and US producers is resulting in losses of about INR 30 billion (USD 509m/EUR 373m) to India and of INR 10 billion to the local solar manufacturing sector alone. Data by the Indian Solar Manufacturers' Association shows that imports of foreign solar equipment to India totalled INR 60 billion in 2013 but domestic producers did not receive even 2% of the business.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.735)

(INR 100 = USD 1.695/EUR 1.246)

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