Lok Sabha Question No. 3164 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-11
Subject: Solar Industry
Ministry: NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
Asked by: Pritam Gopinath Munde, Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Girish Bhalchandra Bapat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENRGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3164

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.07.2019

## SOLAR INDUSTRY

3164. Dr. Pritam Gopinathrao Munde

Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde

Sh. Girish Bhalchandra Bapat

Will the Minister of NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  Government  has  no  real  policy  or  plan  in  place  to  ensure  solar  panel manufacturing and if so, the response of the Government thereon;
- (b) the present share of manufacturing of solar panels in GDP as compared to 2014;
- (c)  whether  India  is  regarded  by  the  global  solar  industry  as  one  of  the  most  promising markets and if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether  Indian imports mostly from China, accounted for 90% of 2017 sales, up from 86% in 2014;
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereon;
- (f) whether India needs a solar manufacturing strategy and if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) the steps taken by the Government to encourage domestic manufacturing of solar panels to reduce the import bill?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (I/C) FOR NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND POWER (SHRI R. K. SINGH)

- (a) Domestic manufacturing of solar cells and modules is supported by Government of India by way of following initiatives:
1. Domestic manufacturing of solar cells and panels in India is being supported by the Government  of  India  through  Modified  Special  Incentive  Package  Scheme  (M-SIPS)  of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. The scheme, inter alia, provides for:
- i. 20-25%  subsidy  for  investments  in  capital expenditure  for setting up  of the manufacturing facility.
- ii. Reimbursement of countervailing Duty (CVD)/ Excise Duty for capital equipment for the units outside Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
2. The solar power projects being implemented by the Central Public Sector Undertakings  (CPSUs)  with  financial  support  from  Government  and  those  rooftop  solar projects which are implemented with central financial assistance are mandated to source their requirement  of  solar  cells  &  panels  from  domestic  sources  as  per  extant  Guidelines,  in  a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliant manner.
3. Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) vide its O.M. No. 146/57/2018-P&C dated 11.12.2018 regarding 'Implementation of Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order for Renewable Energy sector' has stipulated that apart from civil construction, preference  shall  be  provided  by  Central  Ministries/Department  and  Central  PSUs  to domestically manufactured/produced products such as solar PV  modules and other components  such  as  inverters,  etc.  for  Grid  connected  solar  power  projects.  Minimum Percentage  of  local  content  required  is  100%  in  case  of  solar  modules  and  40%  for  other components such as inverter. etc.
4. Further,  Ministry  of  Finance,  through  notification  no.  01/2018-Customs (SG)  dated 30th  July,  2018,  has  imposed  Safeguard  duty  on  import  of  solar  cells  whether  or  not assembled in modules or panels.
- (b) The manufacturing capacity of solar modules in the year 2014 was around 2.8 GW and the  GDP  of  India  was  Rs.  2.04  lakh  crore  USD  in  the  year  2014  whereas  the  current manufacturing capacity of solar modules is around 10 GW  and the GDP of India was Rs. 2.72 lakh crore USD in the year 2018.
- (c) Ernst and Young ( EY) in its 53 rd edition of the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) report 2019 ranked 40 countries on attractiveness based on renewable energy investment and deployment opportunities.

India  Ranks  4 th in  RECAI  report  2019.  The  RECAI  ranking  is  based  on  a  methodology involving  analysis  of  different  parameters  such  as  economic  stability,  investment  climate, security and supply of energy, clean energy gap, affordability of energy, policy enablement through  political  stability  and  support  for  renewables,  project  delivery  in  terms  of  energy market access, infrastructure & finance and technology potential based on natural resource, power off - take attractiveness, political support, technology maturity and forecast growth & pipeline. The status of the country on each of the parameters is rated, to arrive at an overall RECAI ranking.

(d)  and  (e)  As  per  the  final  findings  dated  16.07.2018  of  Directorate  General  of  Trade Remedies, in the safeguard investigation concerning imports of 'Solar Cells whether or not assembled  in  modules  or  panels'  into  India,  it  has  been  reported  that  the  total  imports  of solar  modules/cells  during  2014-15  was  1275  MW  which  was  around  88%  of  the  total imports plus Indian Production taken together in that year, whereas, during 2017-18, the total imports were 4917 MW which was around 92% of the total imports plus Indian Production taken together.

(f) and (g) Same as (a) above

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