US under-secretary for international trade Francisco Sanchez has said that India's programmes stress on local sourcing of components and hurt competition.

He said that the government's plan to invite bids for solar power projects worth thousands of crores favors local manufacturers and prevents advanced technology from foreign countries enter the country.

"We encourage India to address concerns that many have about its business environment. There is increasing concern about some recent action that seems to tilt the playing field away from US businesses and other foreign firms," he said.

Sanchez is in India with a 15-strong team of CEOs of US clean energy companies to explore business opportunities in the country. The visitors include those from Azure Power, Serious Energy, A123 Systems, Amonix, Picarro and Sopogy.

The ministry of new and renewable energy has added a clause in the bid document requiring developers to use locally sourced photovoltaic cells for projects auctioned under the programme. These cells account for about 70% of the cost of solar power projects. The ministry has invited offers to develop 350 mw solar power capacities in the second round of bidding.