The solar panel industry in the country has been evaded by foreign components and this has led to some serious allegations in relation to the dumping of solar panels into the Indian market. The probe has been initiated by Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties of the Ministry of Commerce into the import of solar cells from China, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and the US.
The authority claims to have retrieved substantial evidence of dumping of the subject goods, which are being exported from said countries. The action is against solar cells imported from these countries “whether or not assembled partially or fully in modules or panels,” as per the statement. This news first came into spotlight when Solar Manufacturers’ Association on behalf of Indosolar Ltd, Jupiter Solar Power Ltd and Websol Energy Systems filed an application citing the concerns of dumping. The authority has made efforts to ascertain the position from other known Indian producers but “none of them provided the required information in the prescribed format”, says the notification.
“There is sufficient prima facie evidence of ‘injury’ being suffered by the domestic industry caused by dumped imports from the subject countries to justify initiation of an anti-dumping investigation,” says the notification. The ‘period of investigation’ has been determined as between January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 (18 months). “The injury investigation period will however cover the periods April 2008-March 2009, April 2009-March 2010, April 2010-March 2011 and the POI.”
Few Indian manufacturers such as Indosolar and Tata BP Solar have been sufferers of the circumstances, which has forced them to give up manufacturing. Over the years, the cost of a solar module has declined from $2 per watt in 2009 to $0.60 a watt and the Chinese manufacturers are being held responsible for bringing down the costs to such an extent that has led to companies in the West have going bankrupt amidst Chinese competition.
The United States recently imposed anti-dumping duty on imports from a few Chinese companies. The Indian solar cells and modules manufacturing industry hopes for similar protection, which will aid the growth of the domestic solar component sector.
