India’s Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government dropped a proposal to impose anti-dumping duties on solar imports.
Sitharaman confirmed in New Delhi today that Asia’s third-biggest solar market has no intention of implementing the levies. In May, under the previous government, the commerce ministry recommended tariffs ranging from 11 cents to 81 cents a watt on imports from the US, China, Taiwan and Malaysia.
The Ministry of Finance had allowed an Aug 22 deadline for implementing the duties to pass without any public announcement. Earlier, Power Minister Piyush Goyal had refused to answer reporters’ questions about whether they would be imposed.
The duties would have priced out overseas suppliers such as First Solar Inc and Trina Solar Ltd. and raised project costs at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is trying to accelerate photovoltaic installations.
Cell makers including Indosolar Ltd and Websol Energy System Ltd had petitioned for the duties after idling as much as three-quarters of their production, unable to compete against cheaper imports.
