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					</table>The High Court of Andhra Pradesh has directed the Southern Power Distribution Company Limited <a href="https://www.apspdcl.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(APSPDCL</a>) and Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (<a href="https://www.apeasternpower.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">APEPDCL</a>) to file an affidavit by March 31, 2021, with the details of their dues to individual renewable generators and when they intend to clear them.
This order follows writ appeals filed by developers regarding dues owed by the state distribution companies (DISCOMs) pending since December 2019. These cases were last heard in February 2020 and have been delayed ever since due to the subsequent nationwide lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.
In its last order, the High Court had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-high-court-discoms-wind-developers-two-weeks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directed</a> the DISCOMs to clear the dues to wind developers within two weeks of its order. It had also directed them to respond to every petitioner during these two weeks.
&#8220;It is high time the judiciary expedited the hearing and adjudicated the final matter. DISCOMs are even failing to pay 50% of the agreed tariff. Delays in adjudication are sending the wrong message to investors. Despite the central government&#8217;s good efforts, these incidents are discouraging investors from committing further funds,&#8221; said advocate Aditya K Singh.
Background 
Last year, several wind developers had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-high-court-discoms-wind-developers-two-weeks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed</a> an affidavit stating that they have not been paid by the state DISCOMs per the High Court&#8217;s directives. The petitioners sought a direction to APSDCL to immediately pay its dues of ₹1.7 billion (~$23.4 million) along with accrued interest.
According to the petition filed in February 2020, the DISCOMS withheld about ₹621.8 million (~$8.68 million) towards the consumption of 180.83 million units (MUs) of power without any justification. The petitioners noted that an amount of ₹448.1 million (~$6.26 million) was also withheld for dues between February 2017 and July 2018. Additionally, they claimed interest as per the power purchase agreement on an outstanding amount of ₹530.9 million (~$7.41 million).
The DISCOMs had paid their dues up to September 2019 but did not continue doing so as directed by the high court. These dues amounted to ₹138.9 million (~$1.94 million) as of February 2020.
In December 2019, the High Court had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/court-andhra-discoms-clear-solar-wind-dues/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directed</a> the state DISCOMs to immediately clear the dues of solar and wind developers within a month. The DISCOMs were directed to pay ₹2.43 (~$0.0341)/kWh and ₹2.44 (~$0.0343)/kWh to wind and solar developers, respectively.
In January 2020, solar and wind power developers in Andhra Pradesh started <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-discoms-clearing-part-dues-batches-wind-solar-developers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">receiving</a> parts of their dues. Developers told Mercom that some of them were being paid until July 2019, and others received their dues until September 2019.
Payment delays by DISCOMs have been a major issue plaguing the renewable sector, discouraging investments in the sector. DISCOMs <a href="https://mercomindia.com/discom-dues-%e2%82%b9122-billion-january-2021/">owed</a> ₹122.49 billion (~$1.65 billion) to renewable energy generators (excluding disputed amounts) in overdue payments across 384 pending invoices at the end of January 2021, according to data released by the Ministry of Power.
According to Mercom&#8217;s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Project Tracker</a>, Andhra Pradesh has about 3.9 GW of operational large-scale solar projects and around 1 GW of projects under development.
Mercom’s flagship event <a href="https://mercomindia.com/mercom-solar-summit-india-virtual-solar-event/overview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercom India Solar Summit</a>, to be held virtually on April 8th and 9th, has an exclusive session to discuss “<a href="https://mercomindia.com/mercom-solar-summit-india-virtual-solar-event/agenda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DISCOMs – The Weakest Link or Unrealized Potential in the Indian Power Sector</a>.” You can <a href="https://mercomindia.com/mercom-solar-summit-india-virtual-solar-event/register/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here </a>to register for the event.

File Timeframe to Clear Dues of Solar and Wind Generators – Andhra High Court to DISCOMs

The Director-General of Trade Remedies (<a href="http://www.dgtr.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DGTR</a>) conducted an oral hearing where domestic and international industry representatives put forth their representations about the continued imposition of safeguard duty (SGD) on the import of solar cells and modules to India.
Representatives from the domestic industry stated that the two-year-long safeguard duty regime was not sufficient and asked the DGTR to extend the duty until 2024. They recommended the duty to be reimposed, starting at 15% and subsequently lowered by 0.05% annually over the next four years.
They also suggested the inclusion of Thailand and Vietnam under the scope of the safeguard duty as imports from the countries had increased notably over the last 14 months.
A representative for the Solar Power Developer Association (importers) and Thailand responded that new countries could not be added under the ambit of the duty, but an extension may be possible. The representative, however, expressed that a four-year extension was not fair and suggested that the proposed annual duty reduction was too little.
Representatives for Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and Taiwan presented their concerns and asked to be excluded from the duty, citing potential issues with other bilateral agreements with India. They said that if reimposed, the safeguard duty, in addition to the government’s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/basic-customs-duty-solar-cells-modules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proposed</a> 20% basic customs duty (BCD), would result in international trade issues.
In line with this, a representative from the Shapoorji Pallonji Group pointed out that the industry has already suffered as a result of the imposition of the safeguard duty the first time around citing the numerous petitions filed for reimbursement under the “Change in Law” provision of power purchase agreements (PPAs). They argued that the burden of this ultimately falls on the developers and consumers of power.
The DGTR heard the representations of all the parties present and asked them to submit their arguments in writing by July 9, 2020, and to submit further rejoinders on July 13, 2020. 
Background:
The 25% safeguard duty, <a href="https://mercomindia.com/safeguard-duty-25-percent-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> on July 30, 2018, was imposed on solar cell and module imports from China and Malaysia, to protect domestic cell and module manufacturers. The duty was set at 25% for the first year, followed by a phased down approach for the second year, with the rate reduced by 5% every six months until it ends on July 31, 2020.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies <a href="https://mercomindia.com/dgtr-review-safeguard-duty-solar-cells-modules-imports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">initiated</a> a review investigation in March 2020 to see if there was a need to extend the safeguard duty beyond its deadline following an application filed by the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA). They sought for the duty to be extended by another four years. The domestic manufacturers filing the petition had provided import data released by the <a href="https://commerce.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Department of Commerce</a> from 2014-15 to 2019-20 (up to September 2019) for this investigation.
Mercom has previously <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-project-developers-still-waiting-safeguard-duty-reimbursement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that solar developers were struggling to get reimbursed for additional expenses that were incurred as a result of the duty imposition. They said that it has adversely affected their business, and consequently, the pace of project development in the country.
The domestic solar module manufacturers also <a href="https://mercomindia.com/safeguard-duty-created-market-domestic-manufacturers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expressed</a> their discontent months after the safeguard duty imposition. They stated that the policy had failed to achieve the desired objectives of protecting domestic manufacturers from a sudden surge of imports since the safeguard duty was imposed for only two years, and the implementation period of utility-scale solar projects is 18 to 24 months.
Earlier in May, the DGTR <a href="https://mercomindia.com/deadline-extended-solar-safeguard-duty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">extended</a> the deadline for filing responses to a questionnaire investigating the continued imposition of the duty because of the nationwide lockdown.

Highlights from DGTR Hearing on Continued Imposition of Safeguard Duty on Solar Imports

The Director-General of Trade Remedies (<a href="http://www.dgtr.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DGTR</a>) has rescheduled the oral hearing to discuss the continued imposition of safeguard duty (SGD) on the import of solar cells and modules to India.
The hearing will be held on July 3, 2020, through a digital video conference on the specified date at 3:00 pm in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The oral hearing was previously <a href="https://mercomindia.com/hearing-continued-safeguard-duty-solar-imports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">scheduled</a> to be held on June 11, 2020, but was postponed due to certain administrative exigencies, according to the DGTR’s notice.
The safeguard duty, which was imposed starting from July 30, 2018, is set to expire on July 29, 2020.
Background:
The 25% safeguard duty, <a href="https://mercomindia.com/safeguard-duty-25-percent-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> on July 30, 2018, was imposed on solar cell and module imports from China and Malaysia, to protect domestic cell and module manufacturers. The duty was set at 25% for the first year, followed by a phased down approach for the second year, with the rate reduced by 5% every six months until it ends on July 31, 2020.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies <a href="https://mercomindia.com/dgtr-review-safeguard-duty-solar-cells-modules-imports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">initiated</a> a review investigation in March 2020 to see if there was a need to extend the safeguard duty beyond its deadline following an application filed by the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA). They sought for the duty to be extended by another four years. The domestic manufacturers filing the petition had provided import data released by the <a href="https://commerce.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Department of Commerce</a> from 2014-15 to 2019-20 (up to September 2019) for this investigation.
Mercom has previously <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-project-developers-still-waiting-safeguard-duty-reimbursement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that solar developers were struggling to get reimbursed for additional expenses that were incurred as a result of the duty imposition. They said that it has adversely affected their business, and consequently, the pace of project development in the country.
The domestic solar module manufacturers also <a href="https://mercomindia.com/safeguard-duty-created-market-domestic-manufacturers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expressed</a> their discontent months after the safeguard duty imposition. They stated that the policy had failed to achieve the desired objectives of protecting domestic manufacturers from a sudden surge of imports since the safeguard duty was imposed for only two years, and the implementation period of utility-scale solar projects is 18 to 24 months.
Earlier in May, the DGTR <a href="https://mercomindia.com/deadline-extended-solar-safeguard-duty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">extended</a> the deadline for filing responses to a questionnaire investigating the continued imposition of the duty because of the nationwide lockdown.

Hearing on Continued Imposition of Safeguard Duty on Solar Imports Rescheduled

The Director-General of Trade Remedies (<a href="http://www.dgtr.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DGTR</a>) will hold an oral hearing on June 11, 2020, to discuss the continued imposition of safeguard duty (SGD) on the import of solar cells into India.
The hearing would be held through a digital video conference on the specified date at 2:30 pm in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The safeguard duty which was imposed starting July 2018, is set to expire in July 2020.
Background:
The 25% safeguard duty, <a href="https://mercomindia.com/safeguard-duty-25-percent-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> in 2018, was imposed on solar cell and module imports from China and Malaysia for the period between July 30, 2018, and July 29, 2019, to protect domestic cell and module manufacturers. The duty was set at 25% for the first year, followed by a phased down approach for the second year, with the rate reduced by 5% every six months until it ends in July 2020.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies <a href="https://mercomindia.com/dgtr-review-safeguard-duty-solar-cells-modules-imports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">initiated</a> a review investigation in March 2020 to see if there was a need to extend the safeguard duty beyond its deadline following an application filed by the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA). They sought for the duty to be extended by another four years. The domestic manufacturers filing the petition had provided import data released by the <a href="https://commerce.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Department of Commerce</a> from 2014-15 to 2019-20 (up to September 2019) for this investigation.
Earlier in May, the DGTR <a href="https://mercomindia.com/deadline-extended-solar-safeguard-duty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">extended</a> the deadline for filing responses to a questionnaire investigating the continued imposition of SGD to May 11, 2020, because of the nationwide lockdown.
Mercom has previously <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-project-developers-still-waiting-safeguard-duty-reimbursement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that solar developers were struggling to get reimbursed for additional expenses that were incurred as a result of the duty imposition. They said that it has adversely affected their business, and consequently, the pace of project development in the country.
The domestic solar module manufacturers also <a href="https://mercomindia.com/safeguard-duty-created-market-domestic-manufacturers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expressed</a> their discontent months after the safeguard duty imposition. They stated that the policy had failed to achieve the desired objectives of protecting domestic manufacturers from a sudden surge of imports since the safeguard duty was imposed for only two years, and the implementation period of utility-scale solar projects is 18 to 24 months.

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