The Ministries of Power, New and Renewable Energy and Skills and Entrepreneurship have asked developers in the respective sectors to avoid importing equipment for which domestic supplies are available.
The announcement is part of the 'Make in India' movement. It seeks to reduce import dependence in a bid to boost domestic manufacturing and job opportunities.
Shri R.K. Singh, Union Minister of Power, said: “Power is a sensitive and strategically important sector, as all our communications, manufacturing, data management and all essential services depend on the power supply and any malware may bring down the system. Therefore, ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliance) has a much higher level of significance for the power sector.”
The Government also asked developers to seek prior approval before importing any equipment and to impose a Basic Custom Duty on solar modules, cells and inverters from August 2020.
Indian developers have requested permission to import critical equipment required for current projects until similar domestic capacity is available, as well as access to finance and power at competitive rates.
