Power equipment imports to come up for review in joint meeting of secretaries

New Delhi: The central government will review on Thursday situation arising out of increased imports of power equipment, mainly from China, for the domestic industry which has been demanding protection from the overseas suppliers.

Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Praful Patel has convened a meeting of secretaries of the key ministries, where a “balanced” view would be taken.

Besides Heavy Industries Secretary S Sundareshan, Power Secretary P Uma Shankar and Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar are expected to attend the review meeting, sources said.Big ticket projects, including a $10 billion deal between the Anil Ambani Group and Shanghai Electric Corporation, have recently been signed to the disappointment of domestic equipment majors like BHEL.

Adanis and the Tatas are also sourcing equipment from the Chinese vendors for their upcoming projects.

At present, power equipment for projects above 1,000 MW attracts no import duty. Only 5 per cent customs duty is levied on imports of lesser capacity plants.

The BHEL, which has a total installed capacity of 15,000 MW, is seeking a duty of 15-20 per cent on imported equipment.While the domestic manufacturers, including L & T are building pressure on the government for imposition of import duty, officials in the Power Ministry want a “balanced” approach, as the country needs to add up a generation capacity of one lakh MW.

Sources said if at all, the Power and the Finance Ministry agree for import duty, it would be only from the beginning of the 12th Plan from the next fiscal.

Orders have already been placed for building several power generation plants, mainly in the private sector. The current installed power generation capacity of the country is over 1,80,000 MW.PTI