Union Budget 2019: Solar module makers seek manufacturing incentives

New Delhi: Solar module makers’ body AISIA on Wednesday sought manufacturing incentives like subsidies, interest subvention, import duty exemption and depreciation benefit in the forthcoming Budget. In its pre-Budget recommendations, the All India Solar Industries Association (AISIA) said this is the right time to provide these incentives as the future of the industry is at stake. “Raising concerns that the survival of the Solar Modules Manufacturers Industry is at stake, the AISIA today in its pre-budget recommendations suggested that this is the right time for providing manufacturing incentives, such as subsidies for Power, Capital, Interest and depreciation to this industry, duty free import of manufacturing equipment,” AISIA said in a statement.

The association further recommended raising of export incentives from 2 percent to at least 10 percent for the Indian solar modules manufacturing sector to reap the benefits of the Make in India initiative. It said the last fiscal has been a forgettable year for the domestic solar modules manufacturing sector, which grappled with cheap imports of modules and components from countries like China and Malaysia. A potential solution could be to create a high trade value against cheap imports and/or a countervailing duty to offset the huge subsidies offered by China to its solar manufacturers or offering preferential tariffs to domestic manufacturers, it added. AISIA is an apex association comprising over 18 domestic solar module manufacturers.