India assures contracts for local solar cell makers in government projects

New Delhi : India plans to support local solar cells and modules makers by assuring contracts for government projects, a note from the renewable energy ministry said, as it looks to scale up manufacturing to cut Chinese imports and avoid legal hassles.

The United States is due to take India back to the World Trade Organization (WTO) next month to settle a long-standing solar power dispute, alleging that India has failed to comply with last year’s ruling related to giving preference to local solar equipment makers.

Orders funnelled through a domestic-content requirement (DCR) policy have all but dried up in India after the WTO in September 2016 upheld an earlier ruling that found the move violated global trade norms and discriminated in favour of domestic firms and against foreign competitors.

The new proposal to scale up DCR requirements in government projects with a capacity of 12 gigawatts (GW) aims to protect India’s solar equipment makers facing financial collapse.

The WTO ruling barred India from enforcing DCR clauses for power projects operated by private developers as they are considered discriminatory against foreign competitors.