China Winning The Renewables War With India

In addition to ongoing territorial disputes in the foothills of the Himalayas. China and India are pulling further and further apart in the race to become dominant regional solar PV manufacturing nations with Beijing taking the initiative in solar investments, expansion of power generating capacit, and improving tech in the industry according to Bridge To India – a consultancy firm specialising in renewables.

According to the report on photovoltaic (PV) related manufacturing “Long-term viability of the Indian manufacturing sector depends on its capacity to compete with leading Chinese manufacturers on cost of production, scale and technology,” while noting issues faced on the sub-continent with “Indian companies … banking mainly on tariff barriers and incentives in form of capital and / or operating cost subsidies,”; a nod to India’s desire to mitigate renewables industry risks.

Policy uncertainty has long been an issue blighting India’s further progression into the world of PV related renewables with New Delhi just this year declaring a customs duty on imported solar modules and cells to help promote a “Make In India” concept that has been on the back-burner for the better part of a decade.

In the interim, as has so often been the case, nothing has transpired with industry professionals left without any further government guidance.

“I see the reason to have an import duty. But I don’t know the reason behind keeping everyone in the dark. Maybe it’s just dysfunction and disagreement between different stakeholders and the ministry,” one solar developer in India has been quoted as saying.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.