After concluding the investigations, Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) said that the increased imports of ‘solar cells whether or not assembled in modules or panels’ in India have caused “serious injury” and “threaten to cause serious injury” to the domestic producers of the product.
Taking a cue from this the commerce ministry today recommended imposition of safeguard duty for two years on solar cells imports to protect domestic players from steep rise in the inbound shipments of the product.
The duty recommended by the directorate is 25 per cent in the first year, to gradually come down to 20 per cent in the six months of second year and then 15 per cent in the remaining six months. However, the finance ministry will take the final call to impose the duty.
The recommendation, contained in a report published by the ministry and to be submitted to the government for approval, is intended to address a serious threat to the domestic solar manufacturing industry from Chinese imports.
However, The China Chamber of Commerce for Imports and Exports of Machinery and Electronic Products said the “real cause of injury to the domestic industry is aggressive pricing practices of other Indian producers and not imports.”
Reference- Business Standard, Economic Times, Agency Feed