Indian solar manufacturers have filed an anti-dumping petition with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, against Chinese solar modules and cells hoping that an interim duty will be levied, according to Mercom’s industry sources. The Ministry of Trade and Commerce has yet to accept or send official notification regarding the petition, which was filed June 5, 2017.

Indian solar manufacturers had filed a similar petition in 2011-12 on cells and modules manufactured in China, Taiwan, Malaysia and the United States and the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, after two years of investigation, recommended antidumping tariffs in the range of $0.11 to $0.81 per watt. The Indian government eventually decided against imposition of duties and closed the case in 2014.

This filing comes in the wake of India losing the WTO case which ruled that India’s localization rules discriminate against U.S. manufacturers. As a result, tenders with a Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) have mostly been either withdrawn or cancelled, negatively affecting local manufacturers.

Considering that cheaper Chinese modules are fueling Indian solar installations and have brought down tariffs to record low levels and the fact that the previous anti-dumping case was closed without a tariff imposition, it is difficult to see this petition going far. Anti-dumping cases are also not a short-term remedy and take years to complete.