India’s solar panel exports, which had experienced a notable surge since the fiscal year 2022-23, hit a plateau in the first quarter of the current financial year. This stagnation is attributed to the US, the sole destination for these exports, adopting more protectionist measures.
During the April to June period of the ongoing fiscal year, the export of solar panels—technically classified as photovoltaic cells assembled into modules or panels—decreased by 0.8% compared to the same period the previous year, totaling $450 million. This decline is a significant shift from the over 90% growth observed in 2023-24.
The slowdown in exports can be primarily linked to new US regulations designed to limit imports of solar panels, although these measures were not specifically targeted at India. In May, the US initiated an anti-dumping investigation into photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, originating from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Alongside this, as part of a broader strategy to impose higher duties on select Chinese imports, including electric vehicles and batteries, the duties on solar cells and modules were increased to 50%, up from the previous 25%. These protective measures have had a substantial impact on India’s emerging solar panel export sector, given that nearly all of India’s solar panel exports are directed to the US market.
In the fiscal year 2022-23, when solar panel exports were first categorized separately, India exported $1.03 billion worth of solar panels, with $1.0 billion of this amount going to the US. The subsequent fiscal year, 2023-24, saw an impressive 90% growth in these exports, reaching a total of $1.96 billion. Out of this, $1.93 billion was exported to the US, making solar panels the fifth largest export item to the US, following diamonds, smartphones, pharmaceutical products, and other goods.
In contrast, exports of smartphones, which were also recorded as a new category starting in 2022-23, have continued to thrive. In the April-June period of the current fiscal year, smartphone exports grew by a robust 31.6%, reaching $4.9 billion. Over 40% of these smartphones were shipped to the US.
For the fiscal year 2023-24, smartphone exports totaled $15.5 billion, reflecting a strong and sustained growth trajectory, driven largely by major multinational corporations. Overall, while India’s solar panel exports face challenges due to increased US protectionism, the smartphone sector continues to show healthy expansion, highlighting a contrast in the performance of these two key export categories.
