India launches anti-dumping probe for PV cells from China, Thailand, Vietnam

From pv magazine India

India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), an entity under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has launched an anti-dumping probe into solar cells from China, Thailand and Vietnam, based on a request by domestic manufacturers.

The application was filed by Mundra Solar PV, Jupiter Solar Power and Jupiter International, via the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA). The manufacturers have been seeking the imposition of anti-dumping duties to protect them from material injury caused by such imports at unfairly low prices.

The DGTR said it has identified prima facie evidence to suggest that the normal value of solar cells in each of the three exporting countries significantly surpass net export prices. It said this indicates the potential dumping of such products into India.

The applicants have claimed that this has prevented them from selling in the open market (installations in the private domain). Throughout the 18-month period of the investigation (July 2019 to December 2020), their sales volumes were negligible in the open market, where they compete with imported goods. The domestic manufacturers claim that this has left them with unused capacity, even after securing sales under the Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) scheme, which mandates the use of domestically made equipment for 12 GW of solar projects to be set up by state-run power generators.

Based on the submitted evidence, the DGTR has announced the launch of an investigation to identify the alleged dumping of solar cells from China, Thailand, and Taiwan. It has also said that any anti-dumping duties that might be imposed should be high enough to address the negative impact on the Indian cell industry.