Domestic solar manufacturers points to lack of government and developers support
Despite several government initiatives, domestic solar manufacturing remains dilapidated, according to a press note shared by the industry body
The All India Solar Industries Association (AISIA), the body of domestic solar manufacturers, shared a press note highlighting the lack of support from the government and domestic developers.
The note stated that despite announcements of several policies by the government to support the industry, domestic solar manufacturing remains stagnant.
The AISIA note explained that this is due to campaigns spreading misinformation about competencies and quality, promoting import of Chinese modules without duty, and stalling the implementation of structural measures and tariffs.
India still remains heavily import dependent and a dumping ground for foreign manufacturers, pointed out the industry body.
“The PLI scheme would achieve significant foreign exchange savings while maintaining a rolling five-year structure of benefits for local players to become self-sufficient over time. We have also seen that ‘Make in India’ has been strongly opposed for reasons such as pricing, where developers expect to procure high quality solar panels at affordable rates,” the note further stated.
Citing the constraint of limited manufacturing capacity in India as a myth , the domestic manufacturers said that India has always had more manufacturing capacity than deployment in the country. A note further stated that even in the past three financial years, deployments have been below thee domestic manufacturing capacity.
Hence, we request and pray for immediate and urgent intervention to stop those seeking to dump Chinese imports, as this will lead to grave consequences. This may result in most units turning into NPAs, while some might even end up in bankruptcy, the note said.
Besides requesting the government to implement the basic customs duty as soon as possible and to award the production linked incentive scheme to waitlisted players, the industry body also urged the government to preserve the ALMM order of 13 January 2022.
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