BIS certification, testing delays hit Chinese solar equipment imports
NEW DELHI : India’s economic response against border transgression by China is playing out in the solar space with delays by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in certification and testing approvals for imported solar equipment from China, said two people aware of the development.
The approval is necessary to be eligible to sell in India after the government made it mandatory for all imported solar equipment to meet stringent quality norms after instances of poor quality solar modules being sold in the domestic market came to light.
The delays in testing and certification assume significance given that 80% of solar cells and modules used in India are imported from China and such imports in 2018-19 were valued at $2.16 billion. Major Chinese solar module producers such as Trina Solar Ltd, Jinko Solar, JA Solar Holdings, ET Solar, Chint Solar, and GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd are some of the suppliers to India, which is implementing the largest clean energy programme in the world.
