India mulls customs duty delay or project deadline extension as manufacturing crisis bites

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The Indian renewables ministry will decide whether a delay to the customs duty or an extension of project deadlines would be effective. Image: Amp Energy India via Twitter.

The Indian government is reportedly either considering a delay to its customs duty on imported solar products or allowing domestic projects to push back deadlines in light of uncertainty from Chinese suppliers, the country’s renewable energy minister, RK Singh, told the Economic Times.

The decision comes after five of the solar industry’s leading module manufacturers issued a joint statement warning of an impending “crisis” regarding module supplies, imploring developers to consider delaying projects and calling for greater collaboration between upstream and downstream players. The price of modules jumped 9% in that same week.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

“We have received a demand saying there is this problem [Chinese companies delaying supplies by invoking force majeure]. Of course, my orientation is ‘buy Indian’. But there are no sufficient stocks to buy Indian,” said Singh. “So, we are mulling over either timeline extension or duty extension. We haven’t taken any view.”

In March, India announced it will introduce a 40% basic customs duty (BCD) on solar modules as of April 2022 to cut the reliance on imports and expand the country’s PV manufacturing base.

Meanwhile, signed contracts for upcoming solar projects did not take the inflated module costs into account, meaning that the price rises will have to be borne by the companies alone.

As such, Indian developers have written to the India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) asking for a one-year extension on deadlines.

“The Chinese suppliers are taking advantage of this deadline and forcing Indian [independent power producers] to pay more than 1.5 times of original signed contract. Through this deadline we are only benefitting Chinese companies,” the letter said.

The Indian Solar Power Developers Association has also urged the MNRE to extend the BCD to protect Indian developers. It said a one-year extension would be a “win-win situation as domestic manufacturing will come up and Indian solar developers won’t have to depend on Chinese imports”.

India is keen to establish a domestic manufacturing base in the country, with Singh previously saying it was “unhealthy” for so much production to be located in China because of the threat of supply chain disruption.

In April, the MNRE established a production-linked incentive (PLI) programme that aimed to incentivise companies setting up integrated, higher capacity plants.

Currently, around 80% of India’s local demand for solar modules is met through imports from other Asian countries such as China, Vietnam and Malaysia and India has a target of adding 280GW of solar power installation by 2030.

Read Next

October 3, 2025
Chinese government policies and supply-side production cuts will drive a significant increase in solar and storage component costs.
September 26, 2025
The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has added 4.8GW of annual solar cell nameplate capacity to its Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) List-II.
September 18, 2025
Indian PV makers have welcomed the government’s plan to add solar wafers to its ALMM List-III from June 2028.
August 6, 2025
The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has published the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) for solar cells, which contains 13GW of annual nameplate capacity across six manufacturers.
Premium
April 28, 2025
Carrie Xiao assesses the impact of Chinese policy changes as developers rush to complete projects before rules change and module prices go up.
April 22, 2025
JA Solar has started delivery of 1GW of its DeepBlue 4.0 Pro modules to the 2GW Suji Sandland project in Inner Mongolia, China.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland