Govt considers imposing customs duty on solar equipment from August

India is considering imposing a customs duty on imports of solar modules, cells and inverters from August, the power ministry said on Tuesday, as part of a push to curb foreign purchases.

India does not now levy a customs tax on imports of solar cells and modules, most of which come from China to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target of installing 100 gigawatt of solar energy by 2022. Other existing taxes expire in July.

Three-state run firms would offer finance at low interest rates to encourage the local production of solar equipment, the power ministry said in a statement.