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RSS' Bharat Solar Power Development Forum wants anti-dumping duty on solar cells and modules |
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The Bharat Solar Power Development Forum (BSPDF), floated by the RSS, wants the government to impose anti-dumping duty on imported solar cells and modules, and bring Indian industry and academia together to overcome the gaps in India's solar manufacturing.
"Creating capacity within the country is the only way to go," said Bhagwati Prakash Sharma, Convenor of the forum, who is also Vice Chancellor of the Udaipur-based Pacific University.
"Local solar manufacturers and universities specialising in renewable energy studies should form a consortium to bring about technological improvements in the quality of domestic solar panels to make them price competitive. The government should also increase the viability gap funding (VGF) it provides users of domestic solar equipment from the current Rs 1.25 crore per MW."
The BSPDF is one of a number of sub groups the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) - a leading arm of the RSS - has set up since the NDA government came to power. (Sharma is also the national co-convenor of the SJM.) Other sub groups include one on defence manufacturing, another of public private partnerships, and more.
Started about a year ago, the BSPDF has held 10 meetings across the country so far to spread its message, two of which were attended by Minister for New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal. A number of CEOs of indigenous solar companies have also attended these meetings.
"We want domestically owned enterprises in every sector," said Sharma, explaining why the BSPDF was set up. "With a target of 100,000 MW of solar power by 2022 having been set, solar energy will be a very big industry in coming years and we want local companies to dominate it. Buying solar equipment from foreign companies, as well as giving lucrative solar plant development contracts to foreign companies, leads to an outflow of investment."
He maintained the BSPDF had "panicked" to find companies like SunEdison and SoftBank bagging large solar development projects in India.
The challenge domestic solar manufacturing faces is formidable, since currently more than 90 per cent of the solar cells and modules being used in India's ambitious solar programme come from overseas, nearly two thirds from China alone.
Solar developers shun locally manufactured solar modules because these are 8-10 per cent more costly than their Chinese counterparts and also often not as technologically advanced. Indeed, local manufacturing is primarily assembly, since India does not make polysilicon wafers and chips - the basic material for solar panels - at all, but imports them, again mostly from China.
Government efforts to promote local manufacturing through subsidies has also run into trouble with the US complaining to the WTO, and the WTO dispute resolution panel formed to look into the matter recently ruling against India.
At the last meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, Goyal revealed that the government was working on a policy to boost local solar manufacturing. "We are trying to bring in a policy which will support large-scale production of equipment like silicon wafers," he said.
He also reiterated that the government would appeal against the WTO panel's decision, which in any case, he assured, would have no effect on India's solar programme.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com
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