Power Ministry seeks review of anti-dumping levy on solar gear

It is a short-term view since we are also looking at expanding the solar manufacturing base in the future, says Piyush Goyal

The Power Ministry wants a review of a proposal to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of solar gear because the country does not have sufficient capacity to make equipment to harness the sun's energy.

"We have asked the Commerce and Finance ministries to re-look into the recommendations of the report...India does not have adequate manufacturing capacity to support the kind of thrust we want to give to solar. Therefore, we have appealed to them to take a view," Power Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters here today.

"It is a short-term view since we are also looking at expanding the (solar) manufacturing base in the future," he said.

Last month, the Commerce Ministry recommended levying anti-dumping duty on solar cells from the US, Malaysia, China and Chinese Taipei. A final view on slapping the levy to discourage imports is to be taken by the Finance Ministry.

Concluding a one-and-a-half year probe into allegations that cheap solar cells are being dumped into India, the Commerce Ministry had suggested a restrictive duty in the range of $0.11 to 0.81 per watt to protect the interests of domestic manufacturers from cheap imports.

India's solar mission aims to add 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar capacity by 2022. The country's current installed solar capacity exceeds 2,600 MW.