The Indian government has imposed a five-year anti-dumping duty on textured tempered solar glass imported from China and Vietnam To protect the interests of local manufacturers. This move came to light after domestic players raised concerns about cheap imports affecting their businesses.
Why Was This Duty Imposed?
Chinese and Vietnamese suppliers were selling solar glass at extremely low prices in India, making it tough for local manufacturers to compete. While demand for solar modules was rising in India, the supply of cheap imported glass was hurting Indian companies like Borosil Renewables, who filed a complaint with the government.
China’s solar glass industry benefits from heavy subsidies and overproduction. With India becoming a large solar manufacturing hub, Chinese suppliers saw an opportunity to dump their products in the Indian market.
What Indian Companies Want
Indian companies, under the Solar Ancillary Manufacturers’ Association (SAMA), demanded a price threshold for imports and stricter quality control. Their goal is to build the full solar value chain within India—from modules to glass—and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
Companies like Reliance, Adani’s Vishakha, Gold Plus, Gobind Glass, and others are ramping up domestic solar glass production, from 2 GW to 13 GW to make India self-reliant in the next 12–24 months.
Prices of Made in India and Made in China Modules
What the Government Is Doing
Responding to the industry’s demand, the Commerce Ministry concluded an investigation and recommended a 25% anti-dumping duty to stabilize prices and protect domestic manufacturers. A ‘reference-price mechanism’ will allow duty-free imports only if prices are above a set benchmark.
Will It Affect Consumers?
Since glass accounts for 8–12% of a module’s cost, module prices may rise by 3–5% in the short term. But as local production improves and with global standards, prices are expected to stabilize. In the long run, consumers could benefit from better quality and lower costs due to reduced reliance on imports.
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