New Delhi: The power ministry has asked the commerce and finance ministries to have a fresh look at the proposed anti-dumping duty on imports of solar power equipment because India still lacks sufficient capacity in the sector.
“We have asked the commerce and finance ministries to re-look into the recommendations. India does not have adequate manufacturing capacity to support the kind of thrust we want to give to solar power. Therefore, we have appealed to them to take a fresh view,” Power Minister Piyush Goyal told media persons here Monday.
“It is a short-term view since we are also looking at expanding the manufacturing base (for solar power equipment) in the future,” he added.
Following a probe into allegations of cheap solar cells being dumped into the country, the commerce ministry had in May recommended imposing anti-dumping duty on solar cells from China, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and the US. It had suggested a restrictive duty in the range of $0.11 to 0.81 per watt.
Local manufacturers have long complained that U.S., Chinese and Malaysian companies enjoy state subsidies and are selling their products at artificially low prices to capture the Indian market.
Under the new duties, importers will have to bear additional costs of between 5 percent and 110 percent while importing solar cells and panels from the United States, Malaysia and China.
With a current installed solar power capacity of around 2,600 MW, India aims to add 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power capacity by 2022.