India imports around 70% solar equipment from China

Sharath Chowdary

India has imported 161 million solar panels worth around Rs.5000 crore from other countries of the world while more than 100 million solar panels have come from China alone last year. Over 70% of the solar equipment in India has been imported from China, US and Taiwan, Premier Solar Systems Chairman Surender Pal Singh told The Dollar Business Bureau.

He is also the Chairman of Solar Energy Equipment Manufacturers' Association of Telangana (SEEMAT). He spoke to media after announcing UBM India’s 10th edition of Renewable Energy India Expo (REI) during September 7-9, 2016 at the India Expo Center in Greater Noida.

Earlier, there was no enough capacity to produce solar equipment required for the developers in India. So, the government was not levying any anti-dumping duty on Chinese imports. But now, there is level playing field for all solar equipment manufacturers. All India Solar Manufacturers' Association had submitted a representation to the Central government to support the domestic players, he said.

Speaking about the impact of Goods and Service Tax (GST) on renewable energy sector, Singh said, “When GST is implemented in India, solar equipment manufacturers of China and Taiwan will be benefitted. At present, Indian manufacturers are paying zero taxes in few states while the VAT is below 5% in other states. If the GST is fixed at 18% this will add roughly around 10-15% of the cost of power projects which will subsequently reflected as a burden on consumers."

"India has 8.1 GW installed capacity of solar power and it may increase to 15 GW by the end of this fiscal year. The cost of fund is high and the banks are still cautious while lending to the solar industry due to few bad experiences in the past. The solar industry is hopeful to achieve the target of 20 GW capacity of solar power by 2020," he added.