India's Solar Power Capacity Reaches 100 GW

Milestone for India - India's Journey to Renewable Reaches a New High as the solar energy capacity will cross the 100-GW threshold in the country as it prepares itself to increase to 500-GW of the solar power supply by 2030
New and Renewable Minister Pralhad Joshi said on February 7, 2025, that the nation was now proudly standing at 100 GW of Solar Energy capacity while reports had this earlier.

The nation had set itself an extremely aggressive target under the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency to add 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by the end of 2022. So far, 100 GW was solar. It missed its target for the first time in three years, with the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns having forced it into such a situation; however, all indications point toward further success here.

Josha says that the promise of the government for achieving a clean, greener world, and the promise is not broken by installing aggressively solar panels, along with development of solar park, supporting rooftop solar schemes. Solar capacity achieved 100.33 GW on January 31, 2025 while in under development, and under tendering procedure at 84.10 GW and 47.49 GW respectively.

Indeed, the growth in solar capacity has been phenomenal, but India added merely 2.82 GW of solar capacity in the period between 2004 and 2014. It added 100 GW of solar power during the period between 2014 and 2025, thus displaying sharp growth in solar energy infrastructure development in India.

It is because of schemes by the government that a very important role has been played in making it a possibility. Projects like PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, PM Kisan Urja Suraksha Utthaan Mahabhiyan Yojana, and so on also helped in supporting the installation of solar panels all over the country, which would help in further transition to renewable energy.

Renewable energy installation in India crossed 200 GW by 2024-a decade-long jump of 170%. The biggest beneficiary has been solar, especially photovoltaic  modules. The country could even reach an install tally of as high as 98 GW for the year ending 2024.

India is targeting reaching 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. Such an ambition target by a large entity signals the commitment that the entity may be making for its transition in a faster and steeper trajectory towards renewable sources and away from fossil fuel sources. More investments and the policy would be sought after from the government to achieve this destination.
Additional Rs 10,000 crores are added to the kitty with the Union Budget of 2025 to develop solar infrastructure. It also envisages investment in developing solar parks, rooftop solar, and off-grid solar solutions. In addition, the production-linked incentive scheme to give an impetus to the solar module manufacturing facility was further extended for another five years with a budgetary provision of Rs 24,000 crores. Domestic production would reduce imports, thereby bringing down the costs of the solar infrastructures.

Due to such considerations, the government has lowered taxes on customs for all the vital parts, including solar inverters, batteries, and mounting structures, thereby making it relatively cheaper.

Under this scheme, Surya Ghar Yojana 2.0 is a completely new scheme under which the government will install rooftop solar systems on 10 million houses in the next three years. Along with having a low-interest loan provision, the government will also provide subsidy up to 40% making it cost-effective for households to use solar power as well.

India is part of the larger plans for the country that will be taking it forward towards greener sources of power, enhance the security of supplies, and reduction in carbon emission. In fact, India is now one of the top playing fields when talking about the deployments of renewable energies and continues on this track even into the future. Through a long-term vision of reducing carbon intensity for achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, India will achieve global efforts in climate change mitigation.

Conclusion:This is in line with the commitment of India toward high growth in solar energy capacities for renewable and sustainable development. Not only is the country put on a very robust footing to achieve 500 GW of renewable energy target by 2030, but it is still marching forward to an even cleaner greener future with the support of governments and widespread acceptance of solar power and technology advancement.

Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, February 7, 2025