India's commerce ministry arm has opened an anti-dumping probe into imports of cold-rolled grain-oriented electrical steel (CRGO) and amorphous metals from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia following a complaint by JSW JFE Electrical Steel Nashik. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies initiated the investigation on June 22, 2026, covering imports from April one, 2025, to March 31, 2026, and an injury analysis for 2022-23 to 2024-25. Industry observers said any move to impose anti-dumping duties could increase costs for transformer manufacturers and complicate supply chains.

The specialised electrical steel is used in the magnetic core of every power and distribution transformer and it minimises energy losses, making it essential for efficient transmission and distribution. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that annual CRGO consumption is estimated at 400,000-450,000 tonnes (t) and domestic production is only 40,000-50,000 t. GTRI highlighted that nearly 90 per cent of requirements are imported, mainly from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

GTRI noted that demand for CRGO is likely to rise as India plans to invest Rs nine point one five trillion (tn) to expand its power grid by 2032, adding 191,000 circuit kilometres of transmission lines and more than doubling transformer capacity to 2,342 Gigavolt-Amperes (GVA). The organisation said that with domestic output meeting less than one-tenth of demand, higher duties could raise prices without materially reducing import dependence. That scenario could slow investments in transmission infrastructure, renewable-energy integration and electricity distribution.

The body said that CRGO imports are already subject to mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards certification, which suggests the investigation centres on pricing rather than product quality. GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said that higher duties could therefore increase transformer costs and impede the country's ambitious grid expansion plans. JSW JFE Nashik's acquisition of a domestic grain-oriented electrical steel facility in Nashik was noted as a step to build capacity, but the gap between demand and production remains substantial.