India plans to impose new tariffs on imports of solar cells and modules from 1 April 2022, power and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh said.
The finance ministry will issue an order to impose a basic customs duty of 40 per cent on modules and 25 per cent on solar cells as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India strategy, Singh said in an interview.
Singh said. “Since we have manufacturing capacity for modules, so more BCD has been levied on those modules. On cells, we have a manufacturing capacity of only 2,000MW. Our actual consumption that is going to happen progressively will almost touch 20-30GW per year. That is going to be our requirement at the rate I am going. So, cells have to be imported as we only manufacture 2,000MW here.”
This will also help attract foreign firms exploring a China-plus-one strategy for production. India imported $2.16 billion worth of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, panels, and modules in 2018-19. “The demand is here. We are the fastest-growing market,” Singh said.
An investment of ?4.7 lakh crore has been made in India’s renewable energy space in the past six years, with an expected Rs 1 lakh crore investment opportunity annually till 2030.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India aims to end its dependence on the import of all equipment. The government has come out with a production-led incentive scheme that offers manufacturers in 10 sectors, including those for high-efficiency solar modules, benefits worth Rs 1.97 lakh crore.