Secretary with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Bhupinder Singh Bhalla has told CNBC TV18 that there's no proposal to cut import duty on solar Photovoltaic (PV) modules till enough domestic capacities are built.

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Pointing to the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for solar PV modules expected to lead to over 48 Giga-Watt (GW) of additional production capacity by 2026, he said that India should have at least 70 to 75 GW of solar PV module capacity by then.

While he stated that the need for imports will naturally reduce once sufficient local production is achieved, he added that the question of reducing import duties may arise only after solar PV modules made in India become efficient and competitive enough to withstand their global competition.

Clarifying that no move has been made yet on reducing basic customs duty on solar cells, Bhalla explained that while the domestic capacity for solar cells is much less than modules, the singular focus is on building additional capacities apart from the ones which are already coming up in India.

Several companies engaged in setting up local production capacities have cited issues of delay and denial of visas from several countries which provide technology for solar power utilisation, for which he said that the ministry will write to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after formal requests with details are received.

MNRE had conducted meetings with all beneficiaries of both tranches of the PLI schemes last week, and has assured that it will handhold projects to ensure that genuine difficulties being faced are resolved.