NPTC bars foreign participation in upcoming solar projects

State-run National Thermal Power Corp, India's biggest power producer, has restricted the building for three new solar projects to domestic manufacturers, barring foreign investment even as India seeks overseas investment to revive its power infrastructure.

Only Indian companies will be allowed to bid for the projects, which will have a combined 750 MW capacity, a spokesperson for NTPC said today.

She declined to say why foreign companies were barred from bidding, and stressed that Indian subsidiaries of foreign manufacturers would be free to participate in NTPC's future solar projects.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious plans for solar won the support of President Barack Obama earlier this week, with the US leader offering to help finance an expansion of solar energy during his visit to New Delhi.

Modi wants foreign companies to lead $100 billion of fresh investment to raise India's solar energy capacity 33 times to 100,000 MW by 2022, providing big opportunities for US companies like First Solar and SunEdison.

However, the US and India are embroiled in a battle at the World Trade Organisation over state support for solar power (See:India-US spat on solar panels may blow up into a wider dispute). The US said last year that domestic content requirements (DCR) in India's national solar programme were in breach of WTO rules.