India has become the latest battleground in the fight to protect solar panel manufacturers from cheap Chinese rivals, as regulators plan a 70 per cent import duty that developers warn could halt the fast-expanding industry in its tracks.
Some of the country’s biggest builders of solar farms are battling proposals by Indian regulators to impose an emergency tax on solar cells imported from China and Malaysia, as well as more developed economies. The plans are likely to have a big impact on the Chinese industry, which has ramped up exports to India in part because of domestic oversupply.
The duty was called for by some of India’s biggest panel makers, led by Adani Group, which is controlled by the billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.