DCR and Anti-dumping duties should be limited to foreign module manufacturers, but not cell makers – Vikram Solar

Even as the Solar Energy Corporation of India(SECI) is deliberating about the Domestic Content Requirement(DCR) for the first round of allotment of 750 MW under the Phase 2 of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission(JNNSM), Vikram Solar, one of the major PV module manufacturers has voiced its opinion that DCR should be restricted to PV modules and not cells. Mr. Gyanesh Chaudhary, Director of Vikram Solar Private Limited, shared this view when I had a discussion with him on behalf of the Intersolar India organizers. (My earlier interview with L&T for Intersolar can be found here).
Mr. Chaudhary said that “DCR is a good incentive for domestic module manufacturers, provided solar cells are kept outside the purview of DCR. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), domestic manufacturing capacity of photovoltaic cells and modules has grown to 2 GW in 2012 whereas the total cell production capacity of Indian manufacturers is only about 500 MW and the biggest module manufacturers in India have a nameplate production capacity of less than 300 MW.”
He also said that cell manufacturers from abroad should be excluded from the anti-dumping investigations. ” We support the Anti-dumping duty investigation against Module manufacturers from certain countries as there are huge capacities of Module manufacturing in India to cater to the need of the domestic market. It will help the Industry to flourish and avoid cheap and below grade modules from being dumped into India.However, we do not support the investigation of Anti-dumping against Solar Cell manufacturers as there are not much producers of good quality cells in India and also capacities are not available” he said.
In the interview, Mr. Chaudhary mentioned that he does not see upstream PV manufacturing taking hold in India since “the capability, capital and scale involved in wafer and poly silicon production are main impediments“.
Vikram Solar has also successfully integrated forward to EPC and business development. RESolve had earlier highlighted how PV manufacturers like First Solar, MEMC and Sun Power had become vertically integrated players(click here for the article). Vikram Solar also has clearly understood it.
The entire interview can be accessed here. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
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