POWER Govt may extend safeguard duty on Chinese solar power equipment The government is planning to extend the safeguard duty imposed on imported solar power equipment from China, sources said. Domestic solar equipment manufacturers have met Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and suggested the duty be retained. This comes at a time when the safeguard duty impacted addition in solar power generation capacity over the past two years. The domestic manufacturing industry has argued China was actively looking to divert major export flows en-route to India after major buyers from the US cancelled bulk orders. The Donald Trump administration has ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese imports, especially in the electronics space, with Washington DC threatening in December that more restrictions might follow soon.
12 | CCAI Monthly Newsletter January 2020
In 2018, the government announced imposition of safeguards duty on solar cells and modules for two years — 25 per cent in the first year, 20 per cent for six months and, thereafter, 15 per cent. Apart from Malaysia, the duty specifically impacted the exports coming from China, as more than 85 per cent of India’s solar capacity is built on Chinese panels. In the past one and a half years, imports of solar cells and modules have come down drastically. Imports of cells, pegged at $2.15 billion in 201819, have gone down to $1.4 billion in the current financial year up to November. Cell imports had peaked at $3.83 billion in 2017-18. The paper recently reported India’s solar power target took a back seat because of imposition of safeguard duty on imported solar panels. Due to the uncertainty over the panel cost and final rates of power sale from their projects, many developers stalled the purchase of imported panels.
