NEW DELHI : India’s plan to levy a customs duty on solar panels will be framed in a way that it does not severely hit domestic companies who operate from special economic zones, or SEZs, said a person familiar with the matter.
Such zones are typically considered as foreign territories for import duty purposes. The government, hence, plans to charge a small ‘equalization levy’ on imports of solar panels from factories based in such SEZs and run by Indian companies to sell to domestic customers, said the person requesting anonymity. This would be in lieu of the basic customs duty that is set to be levied on imports of solar components from other nations, mainly China and Malaysia.
