Impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese solar glass, else industry will die: Borosil to govt

Jaipur: Leading glass maker Borosil has urged the government to impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese solar glass to provide a level playing field to the domestic players, else the Indian industry will "die". Chinese makers are exporting solar glass into India at a price which is "much below" their cost of production, alleged Borosil Renewables Vice Chairman Shreevar Kheruka.

These glasses are mainly used in the manufacturing of solar panels and are crucial for India's quest for growth in renewable energy. Painting a grim picture of the industry due to the alleged dumping, Borosil Renewables Vice Chairman Shreevar Kheruka said that the price at which the Chinese are selling their solar glasses in India is even lower than the prices of raw material, power and fuel expenses.

The cost of Chinese solar glasses is heavily subsidised by their government and that ranges between 35 to 55 per cent of the cost of the product, Kheruka claimed. If the Indian government does not impose anti-dumping duty on imports, then the domestic industry will die, he said.

Borosil Renewables is a premier solar glass manufacturer and part of the over Rs 3,000 crore Borosil Group, which also operates in consumer-ware, scientific and laboratory glass/glassware. When asked about the policy support required by the government, Kheruka told PTI "We only want a level playing field. We do not expect any kind of undue or unnecessary support from anybody."

He further said Borosil Renewables is very competitive in production, and uses the best technology available with a lot of automation (in the manufacturing process) wherever it is possible. "What we need is to level the playing field, which has been, drastically altered by non-market forces, specifically from (products) coming from China, where the levels of advantage given by the Chinese government by way of subsidies, both operating as well as CapEx subsidies, are anywhere from 35 to 55 per cent of the cost of a product," he said.

Kheruka said though they have the highest quality, where they use the best machines available to make a product, the Indian companies can not compete with the Chinese companies which the government is subsidising. "That is the reason in the solar space, we have applied for anti-dumping duty, because the Chinese sell below the cost of production," said Kheruka adding "It is very easy to prove, in fact, the selling prices do not even cover the raw material and power and fuel cost".

Sand, silica or soda ash are the main components of glass production. Borosil Renewables operates a 100-acre manufacturing facility at Bharuch, Gujarat with solar glass production and processing capacity of 1,000 tonnes per day (TPD), equivalent to about 6.5 GW per annum.

Recently, it acquired Germany-based Interfloat Group consisting of Glasmanufaktur Brandenburg (GmbH), which is Europe’s largest manufacturer of solar glass. India has initiated an anti-dumping probe into imports of solar glass from China and Vietnam, following the complaints by the domestic players.

The commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is probing the alleged dumping of 'Textured Tempered Coated and Uncoated Glass' made or from these two nations. If it is established that the dumping has caused material injury to domestic players, DGTR would recommend the imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports.

The finance ministry takes the final decision to impose the duty. Anti-dumping probes are conducted by countries to determine whether domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports.

As a countermeasure, they impose these duties under the multilateral regime of the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO). The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters.

India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products to tackle cheap imports from various countries, including China.

(Inputs from PTI)