In 2012, solar power producers in India had complained about the import of cheap solar products in the country by companies from China, US and others but now the same party has taken a U-turn and shared its concern about imposing anti-dumping duty on solar panels in India. The same has been shared by Solar Independent Power Producers Association (SIPPA) in relation to duty on solar photovoltaic (PV) modules being sold in the country.
The SIPPA is looking to force the issue on Indian government and telling them not to impose anti dumping duty on the solar panels, which is in the interest of the country.
Apart from conveying to the government, SIPPA has tried to reach out to Department of Energy, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and other related departments, that the recent surge in solar power has been achieved mainly due to low cost solar prices.
In the recent times, the domestic solar manufacturers were demanding duty on anti-dumping, which was seen as a big drawback for solar companies. The country’s solar program, Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) went to the extent of provisioning domestic requirement clause, which was only applicable to the crystalline modules and not on the thin films.
The Indian crystalline module manufacturers rely on imported raw materials such as poly silicon waters and cells and the prices of such raw materials have also crashed due to the heightened demand-supply gap, which is encouraging solar investment from global companies based out of Germany, France and Japan.