Any potential crackdown by the Donald Trump administration on the renewable imports may not heavily impact India, as there is limited direct (domestic) government support for solar panel manufacturing, Pradeep Kumar Kheruka, Chairman of Borosil Renewables, said on Friday.
Speaking to NDTV Profit, Kheruka said, “The question is that an anti-dumping duty is essentially meant to counter government subsidisation, directly or indirectly, of the exported product. As you all know, there is no government subsidy of any sort in India on the manufacturing of solar panels. And therefore, I do not know what the Americans might find in their investigation.”
His remarks came as a group of US solar panel makers recently urged the federal government to impose tariffs on imports from Indonesia, India and Laos. They have alleged that manufacturers from these countries are dumping cheap solar panels in the US, which is affecting the domestic companies.
A coalition of four manufacturers led by First Solar, in a petition, asked the US Commerce Department to impose anti-dumping duties on imports from India and other Southeast Asian countries.
Commenting on the potential impact on Indian solar panel producers with major operations in the US market, Kheruka emphasised that there is no alarming situation for even players like Waaree Energies, which is one of India’s biggest solar exporters to the US market.
“Waaree is perhaps the largest exporter of solar modules from India to the United States. And from what I know about their activities, I have not heard any alarm from them so far. Secondly, Waaree has a decent-sized solar module manufacturing operation in the United States. One way or the other, I think that company will not stand to lose,” he noted.
In a separate development, the Donald Trump administration on Thursday announced new rules for wind and solar projects, which are now set to face additional scrutiny.
Under the new rules announced by the US government, the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will now personally approve permits for green energy projects on government land, ending what is being labelled as “preferential treatment” for green energy initiatives. Earlier, a lower-level agency staff was tasked with this process.
On this, Kheruka said, “Regarding the tightening of permissions for solar energy deployment in the US on government land, this is something, of course, which is well within their rights.…..and it is in line with their stated goal of pushing fossil fuels.”
Borosil Renewables shares were trading 1.22% higher at Rs 587.9 apiece on the NSE at 1:35 p.m., compared to a 0.63% drop in the benchmark Nifty50 at 24,953.85.
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