NEW DELHI: In a bid to safeguard the interest of domestic manufacturers, India has extended anti-dumping duty on imports of certain types of sheets used in solar cells from China, South Korea, and Thailand for another five years. On Monday, a Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) notification said that it would impose a duty of $537 to $1,599 per tonne on imports of ‘Ethylene Vinyl Acetate sheet for solar module’ being exported by these four nations.
“The anti-dumping duty imposed shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier),” said the Department of Revenue in a notification.
The directorate had initiated the probe in April last year following a complaint by a domestic company, wherein, it had concluded that imposition of the duty is required to offset dumping. The product is a polymer based component used in the manufacturing of solar PV (Photo Voltaic) modules.
Imports of components used in the solar industry have increased post India’s launch of its ambitious national solar policy -- Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission -- in January 2010.
Data shows that imports of these sheets from the four countries have increased to 6,367 tonne during the period of investigation (October 2016 to September 2017) from 4,674 tonne in 2016-17. Under this scheme, the country had set a target of generating 20,000 megawatt (MW) of solar power by 2022.
Separately, the central government has again extended its deadline to impose retaliatory customs duties on 29 US products, including almond, walnut and pulses, till May 2. It may be noted that the government has extended this deadline over half a dozen times since June 2018, when it decided to impose them in retaliation to high customs duties imposed by the US.