A second Indian Union cabinet minister has called for the Ministry of Finance not to impose tariffs on solar panels that were recommended last month.
Power minister Piyush Goyal told a press conference in New Delhi on Monday that the suggested duties should not be imposed.
“We’ve requested the commerce ministry and finance ministry to reconsider. As things stand today, India doesn’t have adequate manufacturing capacity to support the kind of thrust we want to give to solar,” he said, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Earlier this month, transport minister Nitin Gadkari reportedly wrote to the ministry of commerce and industry, which set the recommended rates, and called for their scrapping.
The suggested duties range from US$0.11/W for First Solar to US$0.81/W for Chinese panels. The finance ministry has until 22 August to make a decision.
Manufacturers, including Tata Power Solar, have claimed that the duties are necessary to ensure domestic Indian solar manufacturing is allowed to develop. Those looking to solar as a means to meeting Prime Minister Modi’s universal access to electricity goal appear unwilling to wait.
