Covid-19 hits India’s solar imports

The coronavirus pandemic began in China and caused a shutdown of its industries including solar manufacturing units. This disrupted the global solar supply chains and India, which depends on Chinese imports for the bulk of its capacity, witnessed a slowdown in activity. Solar imports saw a year-on-year decline of 77 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, with $151 million worth of imports compared to $650 million in 2019. The decline was 72 per cent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Solar exports increased by 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019. However, the decline was 53 per cent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.