Staring at uncertainty, India's solar industry searches for a ray of hope

If falling tariffs were pressuring project developers before, the new safeguard duty on panels adds another cloud of uncertainty to the stiff targets the government has set

After a five-year dream run when the tariff slid 80 per cent and capacity addition increased ten-fold, the Indian solar sector is staring at the darkness of uncertainty. Tariffs are one part of the problem, to which can be added the recent order by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) imposing 25 per cent safeguard duty on solar panel imports.

These problems can be resolved — indeed, the court has granted a provisional stay on the DGTR order. The clarity on the duty imposition is again in a time loop, now. So the big question is: Can India