India’s Ministry of Commerce has launched an anti-dumping investigation into solar encapsulation materials from South Korea,Vietnam and Thailand.

This follows a petition from RenewSys,a leading Indian manufacturer of PV encapsulants and backsheets which holds a significant share of the domestic market.The petition is also supported by two other firms:Vishakha Renewables and Navitas Alpha Renewables.According to a notice from India’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies(DGTR),RenewSys claims that the dumped goods are identical to those produced by the domestic industry and differ in no way in terms of technical specifications,functionality or end use.

The investigation will cover products exported from the three countries between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.Stakeholders have 30 days from the 29 September release of the notice to submit information relevant to the investigation.

Solar encapsulants bond PV cells,glass and backsheets.The main types are polyolefin elastomer(POE),ethylene-vinyl acetate(EVA),and EVA-POE-EVA hybrids(EPE).

This investigation comes nearly a year after the DGTR imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties on solar glass exported to India from China and Vietnam.In its preliminary findings,the DGTR stated that seven Chinese and one Vietnamese solar glass producer had harmed India’s domestic industry.The Ministry of Commerce later assigned dumping margins of 50%to 90%for Chinese exporters and 30%to 40%for Vietnamese exporters.

India’s solar sector itself is facing anti-dumping action.This summer,the US-based Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade filed an anti-dumping and countervailing duty(AD/CVD)petition against PV cells imported into the US from India,Indonesia,and Laos.That investigation is ongoing,with a preliminary decision expected in the coming weeks.