Govt. aims to replace safeguard duty with customs duty on solar equipment
R.K. Singh, the Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy, has said that the Govt. intends to replace the safeguard duty with custom duty to protect local manufacturers. According to him, the move is a response to some countries dumping solar equipment at very low prices in India to inhibit local manufacturers.
Mr. Singh has said that India wants to expand its exports in the solar sector like the wind sector where India is an exporter of equipment.
Investments in Indian solar sector down by 477% YOY in Q3 2020
Investments in the Indian solar sector in Q3 2020 stood at $0.27 billion as compared to $1.56 billion in Q3 2019. However, they are up 170% as compared to the $0.1 billion of investments in Q2 2020.
The increase in investments as compared to the last quarter can be attributed to the easing of lockdown measures imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the investments are growing, they are far from the total investments reached pre COVID-19.