UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 52 of 99

UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Domestic Content Requirement

The term ‘Domestic Content Requirement’ is sometimes seen in the news with reference to

  1. Developing solar power production in our country
  2. Granting licenses to foreign T.V. channels in our country
  3. Exporting our food products to other countries
  4. Permitting foreign educational institutions to set up their campuses in our country
Show answer

Answer: A. Developing solar power production in our country

Verdict

The answer is developing solar power production in our country. Domestic Content Requirement refers to the local sourcing condition in India's solar programme.

Analysis

Under the national solar mission, a portion of capacity was reserved for projects using domestically manufactured solar cells and modules. The United States challenged this at the World Trade Organization, which ruled against India's domestic content policy, and India appealed in a bid to retain the requirement for government procurement. The dispute followed India's own anti dumping case against solar imports from the United States, China, Malaysia and Taiwan. The television licensing, food export and foreign campus options have no such requirement.

Source

Press reporting on the removal of domestic content requirements in power.

How to crack it

A domestic content requirement is a trade law concept, so ask where India has actually faced a WTO challenge for one, and the solar programme is the standing example. Fuse the static and the current: the static point is that local content conditions on imported goods breach national treatment obligations, and the news hook is the solar dispute. This same pairing surfaced in the 2014 paper through the question on Indian photovoltaic manufacturing.

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