The Indian Government is planning to penalize those solar power developers which use imported solar equipment in projects that were awarded on the back of India’s domestic content requirement (DCR) policy, reports The Livemint.
To put a stop to this, it writes, the government will require developers to make public the information stored on a solar panel’s radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. They will also be mandated to share a list of those RFID tags that are not accepted. It is hoped, continues The Livemint, that in doing this, issues like quality and using the same panels for multiple projects, in order to claim multiple subsidies, will be resolved.
Projects under the DCR policy must use solar cells and modules made in India. It is part of the country’s ‘Make in India’ program, which aims to promote the domestic manufacturing industry. The government also provides a subsidy under its solar rooftop scheme, if the modules are domestically manufactured.
Last Friday, November 24, it was reported that the government aims to further boost its domestic manufacturing landscape with the introduction of an auction for renewable energy facilities totaling 20 GW. Raj Kumar Singh, Union Minister of State, MNRE, announced at a meeting held in New Delhi that the ministry is currently working on a scheme and will soon issue an Expression of Interest (EoI) to industry.
India has also recently instigated an Anti-dumping Duty investigation into Chinese, Taiwanese and Malaysian solar cell and module manufacturers, accusing them of dumping solar produce into the country.
According to a government official, who spoke anonymously to The Livemint, there has been an instance where Chinese equipment was used for a project awarded under the country’s DCR scheme. The government is said to be reviewing the case and is planning to take action accordingly.
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