Friday, March 07, 2014: The Indo-US solar tug took a new turn as an Indian consultant firm, RESolve energy reportedly said that US complaint regarding India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is targeted to counteract India in its mission.
According to a report in PV Tech, Madhavan Nampoothiri, consultant at RESolve energy said that US complaint to the WTO regarding India’s national solar mission can only serve to antagonise India. US filed a complaint to the WTO against India’s 375 MW domestic content requirement (DCR) as part of 750 MW, which was auctioned for the second phase of India’s solar mission. The DCR accounted for half of the total auctioned power capacity plant.
The Indian prime minister did retaliate by instructing officials not to cooperate with the United States International Trade Commission (USITC). Earlier, this week, the minister of commerce and industry of India, Anand Sharma accused US of ‘protectionism’ by filing the WTO complaint.
If India continues with the current policies, there is apparently not much for India to fear in regards to a solar trade. “We don’t think there will be any backlash because most of the imported raw materials and machinery is sourced from Taiwan, China or Europe,” said Nampoothiri. It is to be noted that US has less leverage in solar trade retaliation, and the small margin for impact to US solar market, Nampoothiri does not second the US complaint.
