The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued an advisory against CSUN Trading (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., China/ CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Science Technology Co. Ltd., China regarding procurement of Solar PV Modules from them.
This Ministry has noted that it has received representations from many companies that they entered into Module Supply Agreements with CSUN Trading (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., China / CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Science Technology Co. Ltd., China, for procurement of Solar PV modules manufactured by CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Science Technology Co. Ltd. It is understood that these companies are part of same group, which breached the contract by not supplying the modules in accordance with the terms of the Agreement and even did not return the advance paid to them.
The ministry further noted that -in one case, the matter has also been settled in favour of Indian company by way of Singapore International Arbitration Centre’s Award No. 018 of 2019 dated 24th January, 2019 in ARB No. 4 of 2018 (ARBOO4/18/PPD). But the award of the Arbitration has not been honoured by CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Science Technology Co. Ltd., China.
The Government of India has kept a target of installing 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022, therefore, such breach of valid contracts and not supplying modules on time by foreign companies cannot be tolerated. Therefore, this Ministry had taken up these issues with the Ministry of External Affairs to impress upon the Chinese authorities to advise CSUN Trading (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., China (CSUN) / CEEG (Shanghai) Solar Science Technology Co. Ltd., China, to meet the contractual obligations to the Indian companies and also to honour the arbitration award said MNRE in a statement.
The Consulate General of India, Shanghai, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, has informed that the above mentioned Chinese companies are high risk companies and have over 160 court cases against them and mostly for breach of contract with millions of RMB in compensation amount.
MNRE has issued advisory to all concerned, including SECI, NTPC Ltd., associations of Solar Power Developers, States and Banks, informing them about such incidences and advising them to deal with the aforementioned companies at their own risk.
The Ministry also advised all concerned stakeholders to contact Embassy of India, Beijing, China and! or the Consulate General of India, Shanghai to verify standing and reputation of various Chinese companies before placing any orders so that such incidences can be avoided.
MNRE has also requested The Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, to take appropriate action, by informing all Banks! Lending institutions, so as to avoid any possible NPAs! regulatory issues in future.