The Office of Directorate General of Anti-Dumping (DGAD) has officially terminated the investigation process for the anti-dumping petition filed by Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) in June 2017 and later withdrawn in March 2018.

DGAD’s office terminated the investigation after the ISMA withdrew the original petition in order to extend the years of investigation to include the period from April 2016 to December 2017 (21 months). The reason cited for the extension was that the dumping has been drastic after the earlier investigation period of June 30, 2017.

When contacted, one of the petitioners told Mercom, “We will refile the new petition in the second week of April and the DGAD’s office will initiate a new investigation for that petition. The current order of termination is for the petition that has been withdrawn by ISMA.”

This was the second anti-dumping petition against solar imports from China, Taiwan, and Malaysia, filed by the ISMA since 2014. In its termination letter, the DGAD’s office did not seem pleased with the move and stated, “If petitions start getting withdrawn on account of change in injury to petitioners during the course of investigation, then it will lead to chaos.”

Mercom recently reported that in calendar year (CY) 2017, the Indian solar sector imported solar modules and cells totaling nearly $4.12 billion (~₹269 billion), a 43 percent increase from the $2.88 billion (~₹194 billion) recorded during the preceding year.

Meanwhile, in a preliminary finding issued in January, the Directorate General of Safeguards Customs and Central Excise had recommended that a 70 percent safeguard duty be imposed on solar cells imported from China and Malaysia for a period of 200 days.

The recommendation came after the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) filed a petition with the Directorate General of Safeguards Customs and Central Excise in December 2017, that sought the imposition of a safeguard duty on imported solar cells from China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan.

On January 22, 2018, the Madras High Court put a temporary stay on the recommendation to levy a 70 percent safeguard duty on solar components imported to India.