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The Ministry of Finance is planning to impose a 20 per cent basic customs duty on the import of solar energy generation equipment to aid local manufacturing.
Speaking at a Renewable Energy Manufacturing Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Thakur, said, “We are planning to impose 20 per cent basic customs duty on solar cells, modules and inverters to discourage imports from other countries.”
Thakur said this is being done to support domestic manufacturing of these goods and disuade imports. He said, “Nearly 80 per cent of all solar energy equipment imports come from China. These imports from China stood at $1.2 billion in financial year 2018-19.”
Clean energy push
Elaborating on the clean energy agenda of the Centre, Minister for Railways, Piyush Goyal said that the Railways plans to be 100 per cent clean energy based by 2030. He said that the Railways aims to have about 20 GW of solar capacity by then, all sourced from Made in India products.
Highlighting the measures being considered to increase local manufacturing, Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Nitin Gadkari, said, “We are seeking views from the industry on what cooperation is needed from the government to reduce import and increase export”.
Talking about a pain point of local industries, Gadkari said, “It takes one year to get environment and forest clearances (EC/FC) and start a manufacturing facility.”
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India, however, has a long road to traverse if it is to be both cost-effective and self-reliant in this sectorGadkari also said that the government is assessing measures to speed up these approvals, “We are in talks with Environment Ministry for self assessment of EC/FC compliance. There can be heavier penalties for violations. But it can help reduce the time required to start a manufacturing facility,” he said.
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