No Anti-dumping Duties by India

The Indian government may not impose higher anti-dumping duties on imports of foreign made solar panels, as the costs of imposing such duties could be more than the benefits. India is going to be one of the biggest markets for solar energy over the coming decade. The country will require millions of solar panels each year and it cannot afford to spend a lot of money on buying those solar panels.

The Indian solar manufacturers do not have the scale or the costs to compete with foreign players currently. In fact a group of Indian solar companies has complained to the government that another group of solar companies have formed a cartel to charge high prices for solar products, which are inferior in quality to foreign made products. This could be gamesmanship between the solar manufacturers and the solar installers. However, the fact remains that the Indian solar panel producers have been eviscerated by foreign competition. The Indian solar producers are now far behind in technology, size and costs compared to the players from China, USA and Taiwan. Most of the factories are either shut or they are running on very low utilization. Moser Baer has exited manufacturing after spending a massive amount on different technologies. The state of the Indian solar manufacturers is such that they are even having difficulty in supplying the 375 MW quota under the domestic content (DCR) requirements of the JNNSM Phase 2.

Most Indian states allow free imports of solar panels, which means that installers inevitably go for foreign made solar panels which are cheaper and better than the Indian ones. Some Indian manufacturers are surviving, but they are generally in a bad shape.

Foreign Solar companies in India

The government is planning to invite top international players to set up factories in India, which seems a better solution as the Indian companies neither have the capital nor the technology. The global solar industry has seen a consolidation in the last few years, as a brutal solar downturn has led to the exit of most companies from the industry. The top 10 companies account for almost 50% of the production, with hundreds of small companies going bankrupt in the last few years. India should perhaps focus on other areas which do not have a lot of competition and have higher margins as compared to silicon panel production.