DGTR: Two-year quotas recommended for soda ash imports

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has listed final findings in its safeguard investigation into soda ash imports, with its case page recording a publication date of 4 November 2026. According to BusinessLine, the authority has recommended import quotas for two years, rather than the four years sought by domestic manufacturers.

BusinessLine reported that the proposed limits are 7,54,992 metric tonnes in the first year and 7,92,740 metric tonnes in the second. These are recommendations, not evidence that restrictions have taken effect. The DGTR findings identify the Central Government as the authority that may give effect to the recommendation under Section 9A of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, read with the Safeguard Measures (Quantitative Restrictions) Rules, 2012.

The distinction matters for manufacturers, importers and industrial users. A quantitative restriction places a limit on the volume of goods imported, rather than imposing an additional charge on those imports. Rule 10 of the safeguard rules provides for the Central Government to impose such restrictions through a Gazette notification.

The DGTR document is headed for publication in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part I, Section 1. Its case-page publication date establishes the listing on 4 November; it does not establish a separate Gazette publication on 7 November.

Manufacturers sought four years of protection

According to the DGTR findings, the Alkali Manufacturers Association of India filed the application on behalf of DCW Limited, GHCL Limited, Nirma Limited, RSPL Limited and Tata Chemicals Limited. They sought quantitative restrictions on soda ash imports for four years.

The applicants alleged that increased imports resulting from unforeseen developments were causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury to the domestic industry. The DGTR initiated the investigation on 16 March 2026 after finding sufficient preliminary evidence to examine the application. That initial decision opened the inquiry; it was not itself a final determination of injury.

BusinessLine reported that the completed investigation found imports had increased in both absolute terms and relative terms. According to the report, the DGTR considered the increase sufficiently recent, sudden and sharp to threaten serious injury, and recommended restrictions to prevent that injury and facilitate adjustment by domestic producers.

The World Trade Organization explains that a safeguard investigation examines whether increased imports are causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury to domestic industry. Under India’s safeguard rules, the inquiry must also establish a causal connection between the increased imports and the injury or threat.

Rule 8 requires the investigating authority to evaluate measurable factors, including imports, market share, sales, production, productivity, capacity utilisation, profits, losses and employment. It also requires the authority not to attribute injury caused by other factors to increased imports.

Product coverage and users’ objections

The DGTR findings define the product under investigation as disodium carbonate, commonly known as soda ash. The scope covers light and dense soda ash, as well as natural and synthetic forms. The findings identify customs sub-heading 2836 20, while stating that the customs classification does not determine the product’s scope.

The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration describes soda ash as a material used in glass, detergents, textiles and various chemicals. The inquiry therefore involved businesses buying the material as well as companies producing it.

According to the DGTR findings, questionnaire respondents among importers and users included AGI Greenpac Limited, Borosil Renewables Limited, Hindustan Unilever Limited, PGP Glass Limited and Saint-Gobain India Private Limited.

The findings record submissions seeking the exclusion of natural soda ash. Those submissions argued that natural and synthetic soda ash differ in raw materials and production processes, and that users rely on natural soda ash to help meet emissions-reduction targets. These were arguments from interested parties, not findings established by the passages recording them.

The DGTR said industrial users and their associations were invited to provide information on whether quantitative restrictions would serve the public interest. It also sought the views of the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, which responded through an Office Memorandum.

Evidence period and proposed quota operation

The DGTR findings state that the investigation examined April 2020 to September 2025. The authority treated January-September 2025 as the most recent period, separating it from April-December 2024 to examine conditions before and during a minimum import price.

According to the findings, that minimum import price was in force from 30 December 2024 to 31 December 2025. The two nine-month periods were annualised for comparison alongside full financial years, but the authority said its findings on increased imports rested on actual figures for matching periods.

The DGTR said it used transaction-level import data obtained from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, after separating soda ash from other entries. It held a virtual oral hearing on 29 July 2026 and required oral arguments to be followed by written submissions before considering them.

BusinessLine reported that the proposed quotas include country-specific allocations and would be distributed in four quarterly tranches. Under the recommendation as reported, imports from a country in any quarter could not exceed that country’s quarterly quota.

Those proposed operating limits remain distinct from their legal commencement. Under Rule 12 of the safeguard rules, quantitative restrictions take effect from the date of the Gazette notification imposing them. Neither the DGTR case-page listing nor the recommendation reported by BusinessLine establishes that such an implementing notification has been issued.