WAAREE

Updates with the company's response in paragraph 2, shares in paragraph 10

Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. customs officials said on Thursday they were investigating whether Indian solar company Waaree Energies WAAN.NS sidestepped U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made cells and panels by labeling them as made in India.

Waaree has co-operated with the U.S. investigations in the past and will continue to co-operate in ongoing investigation, it said in an exchange filing on Friday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed the probe in a memo to attorneys for Waaree and the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, a coalition of domestic solar manufacturers that requested the investigation in letters to the agency earlier this year.

In the memo, the agency said there was reasonable suspicion that Waaree had failed to label some of its imported products as subject to antidumping and countervailing duties the United States has imposed for years on solar cells and panels made in China and other Asian nations.

It said it was taking steps to protect U.S. revenues, such as requiring cash deposits from the company while the investigation is ongoing.

U.S. imports of solar panels from India have surged in the last two years since the Commerce Department imposed tariffs on goods from four Southeast Asian nations that had made up the bulk of the nation's panel supplies. The United States has imposed tariffs on Chinese-made panels for more than a decade.

The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which includes solar companies Qcells, a division of Korea's Hanwha Corp 000880.KS, and First Solar FSLR.O, applauded the probe.

"Indian solar products have been among the lowest prices in the market, and now we know why that's possible: by using Chinese cells and not paying the duties that apply to them," Tim Brightbill, the group's attorney, said in a statement.

The Alliance earlier this year also asked the Commerce Department to impose antidumping and countervailing tariffs on cells and panels imported from India, Indonesia and Laos.

Waaree's shares fell 7.3% in Mumbai on Friday, their sharpest intraday fall in over four months.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Dheeraj Kumar and Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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By Sudarshan Varadhan and Sethuraman N R

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - High U.S. tariffs and potential anti-dumping duties on Indian solar panel exports will exacerbate a supply glut in India next year as domestic project bidding slows, according to industry officials and analysts.

U.S. President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on shipments from India will choke panel sales to its top overseas market, which accounts for 90% of module exports, they said.

The situation could deteriorate further if anti-dumping duties are imposed on some manufacturers following a petition filed on July 17 by U.S. solar companies with the Commerce Department seeking duties on imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos.

"The 50% tariff will squeeze margins, and potential anti-dumping duties will make competing in the U.S. even tougher," said Raj Prabhu, CEO of clean energy consultancy Mercom Capital.

India's awards of solar generation projects and new tenders slowed dramatically in the quarter ended June, with an adviser to the federal power ministry urging renewable developers to bid cautiously in line with demand growth projections.

"We expect that India will enter overcapacity stage already in 2026, which will feel even worse with the loss of the U.S. market," said Wood Mackenzie analyst Yana Hryshko.

New Delhi's incentives — including import duties and domestic manufacturing mandates — helped double module production capacity annually to 74 gigawatts by March. State Bank of India Capital Markets projects this will reach 190 GW by 2027.

India's solar module factories are already running at only 25% of total capacity on average, said Vinay Rustagi, chief business officer of manufacturer Premier Energies PEME.NS.

"Some companies are running at 80%-85% like us, others are running at much lower capacity," he said.

CHINA CELL IMPORTS

If anti-dumping duties are imposed, Indian manufacturers must either find alternative markets or supply domestically, Hryshko noted.

Finding new markets will be challenging. Indian solar modules made using Chinese cells are 48% more expensive than China-made modules, while those using Indian cells are roughly 143% more expensive, Mercom data shows.

India has capitalised on an 82% decline in prices of Chinese cells since late 2022 and steadily boosted exports of modules, energy think-tank Ember said.

The local solar module manufacturing push has helped companies such as Waaree WAAN.NS and Adani ADEL.NS increase lucrative U.S. exports. But it has also pushed up solar generation costs, which are passed on to debt-laden power retailers.

India plans to mandate domestic cell use from June 2026, despite these costing over three times more than Chinese alternatives, according to Fei Chen, an analyst at consultancy Rystad Energy.

Analysts say the move may trigger increased Chinese imports before the rules take effect.

"Reliance on cell imports is likely to increase in the short term, potentially leading to stockpiling, price spikes, and supply chain pressures," Mercom's Prabhu said.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore and Sethuraman NR in New Delhi; Editing by Saad Sayeed)

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March 4 (Reuters) - Waaree Technologies Ltd WAAR.BO:

• RECEIVES PURCHASE ORDER FOR 20 KWH HYBRID SYSTEM FOR 35.84 KWH CAPACITY

Source text: ID:nBSE8tRh79

Further company coverage: WAAR.BO

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Jan 16 (Reuters) - Waaree Technologies Ltd WAAR.BO:

• WAAREE TECHNOLOGIES - RECEIVES ORDER FOR 99 SOLAR OFFGRID COMBOS

Source text: ID:nBSE3LQThN

Further company coverage: WAAR.BO

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Jan 9 (Reuters) - Waaree Technologies Ltd WAAR.BO:

• WAAREE TECHNOLOGIES LTD - RECEIVES ORDER FOR BATTERIES AND INVERTER

• WAAREE TECHNOLOGIES LTD - ORDER INCLUDES 1 SET OF 10KW INVERTER AND 10 SETS OF BATTERIES

Source text: ID:nBSE7YDZNf

Further company coverage: WAAR.BO

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By Lewis Jackson and Nichola Groom

Aug 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection has detained nearly $43 million in shipments of electronics equipment from India since October under a 2022 law banning goods made with forced labor, according to agency data, representing a new focus for the trade enforcement agency.

While CBP does not specify what types of electronic equipment it has detained, polysilicon, a raw material in solar panels, is identified as a high-priority sector in the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and solar panels have historically made up most of the stopped shipments in that category, according to industry sources.

The CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The law bans goods made in China's Xinjiang region where Chinese authorities are reported to have established labor camps for ethnic Uyghur and other Muslim groups.

China denies any abuses.

No Indian electronics shipments were detained under the UFLPA in previous years.

Nearly a third of the detained Indian electronics shipments were denied, according to CBP. By comparison, just 5.4% of shipments from top U.S. solar component suppliers Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand were denied entry over that period.

The Indian detentions represent a small share of the $3 billion in electronics shipments CBP has stopped at the border under the UFLPA in the last two years.

But they are a setback for Indian producers seeking to cast themselves as an alternative for U.S. solar project developers weary of navigating tariffs and UFLPA enforcement delays on panels made by mainly Chinese companies.

"If the solar cells for Indian panels are coming from China, then there is likely a good reason why detentions of Indian products may be increasing," said Tim Brightbill, a trade attorney with Wiley Rein LLP. "My sense is that Customs and Border Protection did not realize for a while that many Indian solar panels contained Chinese solar cells, and therefore the UFLPA risks were (and are) high."

Imports of solar products from India have soared in recent years, hitting $2.3 billion last year, according to U.S. trade data.

In the second quarter of 2024, India accounted for 11% of U.S. panel imports, more than double its share in the previous quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

As recently as 2018, the U.S. was not importing any solar panels from India.

The increased scrutiny of Indian shipments is a reflection of the border agency's recent efforts to broaden UFLPA enforcement beyond just the biggest China-based solar panel makers, which have replaced their Chinese polysilicon suppliers with sources from the United States and Europe in a bid to avoid their shipments being detained, according to a trade attorney.

"Indian module manufacturers found an opportunity to import more at a time when the Chinese manufacturers were being held up because of UFLPA," Richard Mojica, a trade attorney with Miller & Chevalier in Washington said.

Waaree Technologies WAAR.BO and Adani Enterprises ADEL.NS are the top Indian solar suppliers to the U.S. market.

A spokesperson for Adani confirmed that some of its shipments had been detained and that all had been released.

"This outcome reaffirms that our products imported into the U.S. fully comply with UFLPA regulations, reinforcing customer confidence in the quality, reliability and legal adherence of our products and manufacturing," the spokesperson said.

Waaree did not respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

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Dec 21 (Reuters) - India's top solar panel maker Waaree Energies WAAN.NS on Thursday said it would invest up to $1 billion to build a factory in Texas to take advantage of soaring U.S. demand for clean energy.

The announcement is the latest major corporate commitment to solar manufacturing since passage of U.S. President Joe Biden's landmark climate change law last year which offers subsidies and tax breaks for clean energy projects.

India's solar manufacturing industry is growing rapidly and just beginning to use its know-how in the United States, with both countries looking to build a clean energy sector to compete with China.

Waaree said that by 2027 its planned Brookshire, Texas facility will be one of the largest solar factories in the U.S., with an annual capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) of panels when it opens in late 2024, then expanding to 5 GW.

The Houston-area factory will create more than 1,500 jobs, it said. The company aims to add a solar cell facility by 2025.

Waaree's plans are supported by a long-term supply agreement with SB Energy, a clean energy developer backed by Japan's Softbank Group 9984.T.

"By setting up the new facility in the Houston area, Waaree brings critical technologies that will boost American solar production, reducing reliance on overseas sources while supporting strong U.S. jobs," Sunil Rathi, interim CEO of Waaree Solar Americas said in a statement. "We are committed to the U.S. and its growing demand for clean energy."

Under Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, solar project developers receive additional subsidies for using American-made equipment, and producers also receive new incentives.

Most major components in Waaree's solar modules will be made in the U.S., the company said.

Waaree's move to manufacture in the U.S. comes after a venture backed by India's Vikram Solar earlier this year said it would invest $1.5 billion in the U.S. solar supply chain.

Waaree has made inroads into the U.S. market already this year by supplying 4 GW of solar modules from its factory in India.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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