Comm Min seeks anti-dumping duty on Chinese telecom equipment

The Commerce Ministry has sought hefty anti-dumping duty on imports of Chinese and Israeli telecom equipment used for voice and data transmission, within days of the government advising telecom operators to desist from using Chinese equipment in view of security concerns.

Acting on an application of domestic producers on alleged dumping of "Complete SDH equipment, including in CKD/SKD and including its parts and components which have a dedicated use for the equipment", the Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has recommended up to 236 per cent of duty against dumping.

Domestic players said India was importing this product worth about Rs 1,000 crore annually from China and Israel.

The equipment is used by all the telecom players, be it mobile, fixed, Internet provider or long distance operator.

The companies involved in alleged dumping include Alcatel Lucent Shanghai Bell, Huawei Technologies from China and ECI Telecom from Israel among others.

The DGAD recommended the anti-dumping after concluding that the equipment is entering the Indian market from China and Israel at "prices less than their normal values in the domestic markets of the exporting countries".

The matter has been referred to the Finance Ministry for notification of levying of anti-dumping duty.