India proposes two-year country quotas on soda ash imports

DGTR has recommended two-year country quotas on soda ash imports, with quarterly caps and no overrun. Glass and detergent buyers face a tighter, more managed import market.

By Procupy News DeskPublished 6 Nov 2026, 4:47 PM IST2 min readSource: BusinessLine

In 60 words

India's DGTR has recommended two-year quantitative restrictions on soda ash imports, setting a 754,992 tonne quota in year one and 792,740 tonnes in year two. The caps are split by country and into four quarterly tranches. The five domestic producers had asked for four years, after imports rose 89% in 2023-24 and stayed at that level.

Key points

DGTR recommended safeguard measures in the form of quantitative restrictions on soda ash imports for two years¹
Year one quota is 754,992 tonnes and year two is 792,740 tonnes, with country-wise allocations¹
Each country's annual quota is split into four quarterly tranches, with no overrun allowed in any quarter¹
The application was filed by AMAI for Tata Chemicals, GHCL, Nirma, DCW and RSPL, which sought four years¹

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended two-year quantitative restrictions on soda ash imports, with country-wise quotas divided into quarterly tranches^1, 2. The recommendation follows an application by the Alkali Manufacturers Association of India (AMAI) on behalf of Tata Chemicals, GHCL, Nirma, DCW and RSPL¹.

The proposed quota is 754,992 tonnes in the first year and 792,740 tonnes in the second, a combined 1,547,732 tonnes¹. Soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate, is a raw material for glass, detergents and textiles^1, 3. It acts as a flux that lowers the melting point of silica in bottle and window glass³.

Country caps and quarterly limits

The first-year quota allocates 159,388 tonnes to the United States, 128,697 tonnes to Turkey and 121,847 tonnes to Kenya¹. The European Union gets 117,179 tonnes and Iran and the UAE share 110,948 tonnes¹. Russia gets 70,289 tonnes, China 46,487 tonnes and other countries 157 tonnes, according to the recommendation¹.

Every annual quota is to be issued in four quarterly tranches. Shipments from a country in any quarter cannot exceed that quarter's allocation¹. Year-two allocations are higher for each origin and add up to 792,740 tonnes¹.

Why producers asked for cover

The DGTR found that imports rose 89% in 2023-24 and have stayed at that level since¹. It said the increase was recent, sudden and sharp enough to threaten serious injury to domestic producers¹. The applicants had sought four years of protection; the authorised officer recommended two¹.

"in order to prevent serious injury to the domestic industry and to facilitate its adjustment, for a period of two years", the recommendation said¹.

The producers had already been seeking other protection. India's DGFT extended a minimum import price of Rs 20,108 per tonne on soda ash until the end of 2025⁴. GHCL, India's second-largest soda ash producer, asked for anti-dumping duties on Chinese soda ash in October 2025 while operating at 98% of capacity⁴. GHCL is also building a Rs 6,500 crore plant in Gujarat that would lift its soda ash capacity to 2.3 million tonnes a year by 2030, aimed partly at solar glass demand⁴.

What happens next

The recommendation is not a final order. The DGTR is an investigation arm of the commerce ministry, and the finance ministry takes the final call on a safeguard duty⁴. Neither account of the decision gave a notification date^1, 2.

The design may draw scrutiny. WTO safeguard rules are meant to be applied to imports from all sources, with limited exceptions set out in the Agreement on Safeguards, according to a background note on the rules⁵. India's proposal instead sets a separate volume for each origin, including a combined allocation for Iran and the UAE¹.

For buyers, the immediate change is that access to imported soda ash will depend on which country's quota still has room, and on the quarter. Glassmakers, detergent makers and textile processors that buy on delivered terms will need to know who carries the risk if a cargo arrives after a quarterly cap is used up¹.

What this means for procurement teams

A quota that is split by country and by quarter changes sourcing more than a tariff does. Buyers cannot simply switch to the cheapest origin if that country's tranche is exhausted, and cargo that lands late in a quarter may not be cleared under that quarter's cap¹.

For glass, detergent and textile producers, the first task is to map how much soda ash they buy from each origin in the quota list, including the combined Iran and UAE allocation¹. Contracts that leave the import licence or quota risk with the supplier need to be checked, and Incoterms should make clear who carries the cost if a shipment misses its quarter.

The domestic alternative is limited for now. GHCL, one of the five applicants, plans capacity of 2.3 million tonnes a year only by 2030⁴, so Indian supply cannot quickly replace lost imports. Buyers should line up a second approved supplier and consider domestic offtake cover for 2027.

Watch for the government notification that turns the recommendation into an order, and for how quarterly tranches are administered^1, 4. Until then, front-loading before any start date and securing written allocation commitments are the practical steps.

Sources

1.BusinessLine, India proposes two-year quota on soda ash imports after 89% surge, 6 November 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.
2.The Economic Times, DGTR recommends imposition of quantitative restrictions on soda ash imports for 2 years, 6 November 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.
3.Wikipedia, Sodium carbonate (Wikipedia), 17 October 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.
4.The Economic Times, soda ash imports: Latest News & Videos, Photos about soda ash imports | The Economic Times - Page 1. Accessed 6 November 2026.
5.Wikipedia, Safeguard (Wikipedia), 9 October 2026. Accessed 6 November 2026.

How this story was made: the Procupy News Desk researched and wrote it with AI tools, working only from the sources listed above. Automated checks confirmed that every number and quote appears in those sources, and a separate AI fact-check compared the story with them before publication. Read our editorial policy. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.