China on Thursday came out in support of India on the latter’s ongoing standoff with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which had dealt a blow by ruling that New Delhi violated global trade rules by g
China on Thursday came out in support of India on the latter’s ongoing standoff with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which had dealt a blow by ruling that New Delhi violated global trade rules by giving subsidy to its domestic solar industry as part of its National Solar Mission.
Speaking at a press conference after completion of the 22nd Basic ministerial meeting on climate change, China’s special representative for climate change affairs Xie Zhenhua said: “We support India’s position on the issue as most of the countries are giving subsidies for development of renewable energy.”
Minutes before the minister’s remarks, MoS for environment Prakash Javadekar said: “It (WTO’s ruling) is unfortunate as India launched a very big 175 GW of renewable energy programme of which a very small portion is to be procured from the domestic manufacturers. The concerned ministry is preparing for the appeal.”
In February 2016, about three years after the US had filed a complaint with the WTO accusing India of violating trade-related norms with their domestic content requirement clause, the global trade body’s dispute settlement panel ruled against India by stating that India’s DCR was indeed “inconsistent with its treaty obligations under the global trading regime”. The government had taken a domestic-friendly approach by offering support of up to Rs 1 crore per MW to the implementing agency for setting up large solar capacities by placing orders with domestic manufacturers. The US had reiterated that India could achieve its clean energy goals faster by allowing solar technologies to be imported from the US and other producers.
