India mulls anti-dumping duty on Malaysian solar glass

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), under Ministry of Commerce & Industry, recommended the duty on ‘textured, tempered (coated or uncoated) solar glass’ imported from Malaysia after Borosil Glass, the only domestic producer of solar glass in India, filed an application with it for imposition of anti-dumping duty.

Earlier, in 2017, tempered glass imported from China attracted antidumping duty in the range of $64.04 to $136.21 per metric tonne, after a similar petition was filed by Borosil.

Solar glass is a component in solar photovoltaic panels and solar thermal applications.

“The authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty on the [solar glass] imports [from Malaysia] for five years,” the DGTR said in a notification after investigation into the matter.

The final decision to impose the duty will, however, be taken by the finance ministry.

The DGTR, on the basis of sufficient evidence submitted by Borosil, investigated the case to determine the impact of the alleged dumping of Malaysian solar glass, and to recommend anti-dumping duty in order to remove the alleged injury to the domestic manufacturers.

The DGTR found that solar glass produced by the domestic industry is comparable to that imported from Malaysia in
terms of physical characteristics, production technology and manufacturing process, functions and uses, product specifications, distribution & marketing. The two are technically and commercially substitutable.