DGS recommends 70% safeguard duty on solar equipment imports from China, Malaysia

10 Jan 2018 Evaluate

In order to protect the domestic industry from serious injury, India’s Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) has recommended a 70 percent safeguard duty on import of solar power equipment from China and Malaysia for a period of 200 days. In a January 5 recommendation to the finance ministry, the DGS said that solar cells are being imported into India in such increased quantities and under such conditions so as to cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry manufacturing like or directly competitive products.

The safeguard duty would be levied if the finance ministry accepts the recommendations of the DGS. Acting on an application filed by an association of five domestic solar cell and module manufacturers, including the Adani Group, DGS recommended a provisional safeguard duty be imposed at the rate of 70 percent ad valorem on the imports of solar cells whether or not assembled in modules or panels. Before final duties or import taxes are levied, DGS will hold further investigation into the injury caused by cheap imports. It would also hold a public hearing on the issue. Besides, the DGS has stated that the existing critical circumstances justify the immediate imposition of a provisional Safeguard Duty to save local units from further serious injury, which would be difficult to repair in case the safeguard measure is delayed.

DGS highlighted that India’s annual manufacturing capacity for solar cells stands at around 3GW as compared with the average requirement of 20GW. It also indicated that the import of solar equipment jumped from 1,271MW in 2014-15 to 4,186MW in the next year and to 6,375 MW in 2016-17. It mentioned that current fiscal imports are pegged at 9,474 MW as compared to a domestic production of 1,164 MW. Adding further, it said that the growth rate of such imports as a percentage of the domestic production was a remarkable 1,371 per cent during the intervening year 2015-16. It also stated that even the overall growth rate of the imports relative to its domestic production is very significant, rising from 519 per cent in 2014-15 to 814 per cent in 2017-18.

About MoneyWorks4Me

MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.

Our Vision

To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.

What Makes MoneyWorks4Me Different

Fiduciary-first advisory model.
As SEBI-registered IAs, we are legally and ethically bound to act in the best interests of our clients. We do not sell or distribute any financial products. This ensures our guidance is 100% unbiased and conflict-free.
Deep fundamental research + robust valuation discipline.
Built on more than 15 years of equity research, our framework combines quality assessment, intrinsic value estimation, and a sensible margin-of-safety approach.
Process—not predictions.
We don’t rely on guesswork or market timing. Instead, we focus on asset allocation, risk management, and long-term compounding.
Technology + Human Intelligence.
We believe a combination of both is essential for investing success. We constantly innovate and upgrade in-house tools, financial X-rays, and portfolio analytics so that our team of analysts and advisors are equipped with the best.
Partner with Clients.
We follow a DIWM (Do-It-With-Me) approach where we partner clients in setting goals, financial planning, educating on our investing process and share decision-enabling resources transparently with our clients who retain control on execution.

Our Approach: Ensuring compounding work its magic on client portfolio.

MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through:

Investing in stocks, mutual funds, debt, and gold
Quality-at-Reasonable-Price way of investing in stocks
Constructing Direct Stock Portfolios with Core, Booster, and Amplifier stocks
A Mutual Fund Portfolio that delivers consistent out-performance and meaningful diversification (low overlap)
Periodic review and rebalancing
Clear Buy-Sell-Hold, and Position-sizing frameworks

Name of the IA registered with SEBI:	The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.
Logo:
Trade/Brand Name of IA:	MoneyWorks4Me Investment Advisers
Brand Logo:
SEBI Registration Number:	INA000013323 Validity – May 16, 2019 – Perpetual
Registration:	Non-Individual
BSE Enlistment No:	1187
Address:	B-101, Signet Corner Building, Balewadi Phata, Baner, Pune, Maharashtra 411045
Compliance officer Details:	Name: Shrikant Jagtap Email: shrikant.jagtap@moneyworks4me.com Telephone: +919860359463 Address: Same as IA
Grievance Officer Details:	Name: Mukta Vaze Email: mukta.vaze@moneyworks4me.com Telephone: +91 98609 19463 Address: Same as IA
Principal Officer Details:	Name: Atharva Bhide Email: atharva.bhide@moneyworks4me.com Telephone: +91 91758 99463 Address: Same as IA
Standard Warning:	Investment in securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing.
Disclaimer:	Registration granted by SEBI, enlistment with exchange and certification from NISM in no way guarantee performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors.