India imposes anti-dumping duty on optical fibre imports from China, Korea & Indonesia

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies of the Commerce Ministry of India, has imposed an anti-dumping duty on optical fibers from China, Korea and Indonesia. This is seen as a move to secure the domestic industry from artificially cheap rates that are capturing the market. The gazette notification also mentioned that the imports were adding “injury to the domestic markets”.  

"The anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) from the date of publication," the notification said.

It was reported in July that the Commerce Ministry's recommendation to impose an anti-dumping duty comes at a time when India is undergoing a digitisation drive under the ambitious Bharat Net rural outreach plan, with commercial operators adding optical fibre to their networks to support 4G and 5G services. 

The anti-dumping duty is likely to be a major relief to both domestic businesses and international companies that manufacture locally. Sterlite Industries, Birla Cable, Birla Furukawa Fibre Optics, HFCL, and American Corning are among the big names in the optical fibre business. 

As per media reports, local manufacturers have been complaining that cheap imports, particularly from China, are hurting their business. Upon an investigation by the DGTR, it was revealed that dumping did have a significant impact on Indian manufacturers.