Despite swadeshi push, anti-dumping duties against Chinese firms crawl

New Delhi: Slow implementation of anti-dumping duties against China even after decisions of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) seems to be hurting domestic industry and weighing on the government's ambitious 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.

One such case has been repeatedly red-flagged to several top offices in the government - that of cheaper Chinese crawlers, weighing up to 260 tonnes, and truck cranes of up to 160 tonnes, which continue to be heavily imported into the country for construction work despite a DGTR anti-dumping duty decision in September 2025.

The same has yet to be applied as it awaits final customs department notification, which can happen only after approval from the nodal finance ministry. The ministry didn't respond to ET's queries on the reasons for delay in issuing the notification.


Notably, local equipment manufacturers have also made several representations to the government on the matter.

Uninterrupted Chinese imports continue despite heavy construction cranes and construction machinery being identified by the government, including by the chief economic advisor, as one of the priority areas for indigenisation. Heavy duty cranes are deployed for lifting and shifting of material at large infrastructure sites - from roads and bridges to refineries, cement plants and defence projects.

Unrestricted imports have allowed Chinese crane manufacturers to gain as much as 95% share of the Indian market with heavily underpriced equipment, severely impacting homegrown companies. This has forced at least five leading Indian manufacturers of cranes and heavy equipment, namely TIL Ltd, Kobelco India, Tadano Escorts India, ABG Cranes and Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company to shut manufacturing operations due to "aggressive dumping" by China, domestic industry representatives submitted to DGTR.

After a year-long probe into the issue, DGTR, in its 19.09.2025 'Final Findings' on 'anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of 'certain cranes originating in or exported from China PR' said its enquiry had 'established material injury to the domestic industry' due to imports from the subject country and it recommends imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of the same.

DGTR recommended on September 19, 2025, anti-dumping duty of 24-52% on Chinese imports of these cranes. Data also showed that in several cases where anti-dumping duty was imposed by DGTR in 2025, the final customs notification has not been issued till date, with bulk of the imports originating from China.

The dithering comes in the backdrop of top officials prescribing a strong Swadeshi model amid global turbulence and tariff threats.