Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Union Finance Minister, presented the Union Budget for 2024-25 on July 23, 2024 to Parliament. The budget sets out the government's measures to achieve a sustainable energy transition in India, in addition to various programs to promote further growth in the renewable energy sector, which Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned also includes plans to reduce input costs for the production of  photovoltaic cells and modules in India as a way to protect the domestic photovoltaic glass industry.

This budget proposes to impose tariffs on imported photovoltaic glass.“The energy transition plays a vital role in the fight against climate change. To support the energy transition, I propose to expand the list of exemptions for capital goods used in the manufacture of photovoltaic cells and modules.”Speaking in Parliament, Nirmala Sitharaman suggested,“However, in view of sufficient domestic manufacturing capacity for solar glass and tinned copper interconnections, I propose to remove the tariff exemption policy provided for them.”

Meanwhile, Indian photovoltaic glass manufacturers like Borosil Renewables have also been calling for renewed tariffs on the dumping of cheap Chinese solar glass, arguing that imports of low-priced photovoltaic glass threaten the growth of the country's domestic photovoltaic glass industry.

The more detailed part of the budget document mentions that the government plans to impose a new customs duty on imported photovoltaic glass from October 1, 2024, at a rate from 0% to 10%. The government also plans to increase the duty on built-in copper interconnections used in the manufacture of solar cells and modules from October 1, 2024 from 0% to 5%.

In order to support the domestic photovoltaic industry related enterprises, the Indian government has been launching various policies in recent years to increase the proportion of“Made in India”in the photovoltaic industry. Since 2022, the Indian government has imposed tariffs on imported photovoltaic cells and modules, and launched anti-dumping investigations from time to time against related components to support domestic enterprises.

However, according to statistics in June 2024, China's exports of photovoltaic glass amounted to 352,900 tons, of which exports of photovoltaic glass to India reached 99,700 tons, an increase of 31.70%, surpassing Vietnam to become China's largest trade export country of photovoltaic glass.

It can be seen, although the Indian government to promote the development of the domestic photovoltaic industry has taken a series of measures, but still little effect, how to explore their own products production and technical advantages is to promote the fundamental plan of domestic manufacturing.

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/w-4UgWgkxSfQtVb-e0z73g