India’s largest manufacturer of solar modules is calling for the government to reinstate trade barriers to protect it from competition from the likes of China and Vietnam.

The temporary relaxation of a safeguard mechanism stating a list of approved solar makers in March has ushered in a flood of cheap imports, forcing local manufacturers to idle some capacity, Waaree Energies Ltd. Chairman Hitesh Doshi, said in an interview.

The reinstatement of the so-called Approved List of Models and Manufacturers, a non-tariff barrier designed to control which solar makers are allowed to enter the Indian market, is the only solution, he said. “We are pleading to the government to bring it back.”

Delays during the pandemic led to calls for India’s solar sector to diversify its supply chains. The government is now trying to balance the need to curb cheap imports to boost domestic manufacturing, while at the same time making sure local companies can keep up with demand.

Import duties are pointless, Doshi said, because key solar exporters such as Vietnam have free-trade agreements with India, and Chinese suppliers have reduced prices to levels that make their cargoes competitive despite the previously enforced 40% import tax.

After the government lifted the approved list, imports kept growing despite steep taxes on foreign-bought cells and modules levied in 2022 and 240 billion rupees ($2.9 billion) of government funds to aid local output. Imports from April through August surged almost sevenfold from the same period a year earlier, according to BloombergNEF.

Mumbai-based Waaree has 12 gigawatts of modules capacity in India and 5.4 gigawatts of cells manufacturing infrastructure is in the works. It is also building a 2 gigawatt modules factory in the US, which is expected to begin operations by April 2024. 

The company is discussing a plan for a public float, details of which should be firmed up by the end of this month, Doshi said. The Economic Times reported last week that Waaree is seeking to raise $350 million, at a valuation of $3 billion.