India has long been dependent on coal-fired power for much of its electricity, and the country still gets about 70% of its energy from burning coal according to government data. The Institute for Energy Research earlier this year said India would add about 14 GW of new coal-fired generation capacity this year, in a country where demand for electricity rose by 11.3% in 2023, the highest rate since before the pandemic.
Renewable energy, though, continues to take a larger share of the country’s power mix, with both solar and wind power growing at a rapid rate. The Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a group that analyzes market trends and policies in the energy sector, said India added 13.7 GW of power generation capacity in the first quarter of 2024, with renewables accounting for 71.5% of the new additional capacity. Mercom India, a data research firm, said India in the first half of this year saw a 282% increase in solar deployments compared with 2023. Mercom said there is a solar power project pipeline of 132.7 GW planned between this year and 2026.
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy reported nearly 91 GW of solar power was installed countrywide as of the end of September, along with more than 47 GW of wind power and about 5 GW of hydropower. Invest India, a group that promotes investment in the country and supports industrial projects, recently said the country ranks fourth globally in wind power capacity, and is fifth worldwide for installed solar generation capacity. Officials have set a target of 500 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Officials recently said India will connect 35 GW of solar and wind power capacity to the country’s grid from March of this year through March 2025, with a ministry official saying about 30 GW of that total would come from solar power. India is home to at least two of the world’s largest solar installations—the Bhadla Solar Park (Figure 1), located in northern India, in the state of Rajasthan, has 2,245 MW of generation capacity. It covers nearly 22 square miles. The Pavagada Ultra Mega Solar Park, located in the Tumakuru District of Karnataka, a state in southern India, covers an area of about 20 square miles. Pavagada can generate more than 2,000 MW of electricity.
Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of the Adani Group, and partly owned by TotalEnergies, is building a renewable energy generation facility that it says would have maximum output of 30 GW. The project, in Gujarat state, would include the Khavda solar park, which Adani has said will be the world’s largest solar installation once complete. Adani commissioned a 1-GW portion of the project earlier this year, and late last year secured financing for a 2.1-GW build at the site. The company in September entered a joint venture with TotalEnergies for another 1.15 GW of solar power capacity at Khavda, and also that month announced it has signed a 5-GW, 25-year power purchase agreement with the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Adani Solar, the solar manufacturing arm of the company, at RE+ said it plans to build 10 GW of wafers, ingots, solar cells, and module manufacturing capacity in India.
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Full issue“India’s solar industry is indeed booming very fast, driven by both powerful government initiatives and a focus on reducing carbon emissions,” said Andrei Marveaux, managing director at California-based Solartech Solutions/The Home Upgrade. Marveaux, who is known for his work on optimizing solar power installations, told POWER that India has large areas of land available for solar power installations. “The country has ambitious plans to add hundreds of gigawatts of solar capacity, boding well for helping drive down costs around the world. And one exciting area of rapid expansion is out in the countryside.”
Grew Energy, founded in 2022 and today considered one of India’s leading solar power companies—a list that includes Adani Solar, Vikram Solar, and Tata Power Solar, among others—is a major driver of India’s solar buildout, with the company investing in new solar photovoltaic (PV) module and other equipment manufacturing facilities. The company, a renewable energy venture of Chiripal Group, an India-headquartered conglomerate, in September announced its entry into the North American solar energy market at the RE+ 2024 trade show in Anaheim, California, where it showcased its P-type (mono-perc) and N-type (Topcon) solar modules. The company recently opened two factories in Jaipur (Figure 2), producing 2.8 GW of solar equipment, and inaugurated another 3.2-GW manufacturing plant in Kathua, in the Jammu division of Kashmir.
Grew Energy in early October announced it will supply more than 180 MW of solar PV modules to Aditya Green Energy for solar projects to be developed under India’s PM KUSUM C Scheme (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan), a program designed to promote solar energy adoption in rural areas. “India’s remarkable progress in solar power is driven by a combination of robust government support and the active participation of the private sector. The Indian government has been instrumental in creating a favorable policy landscape, offering incentives, and fostering a regulatory environment conducive to solar development,” said Vinay Thadani, CEO and director of Grew Energy. Thadani told POWER, “This has allowed private players to enter the market with confidence, bringing in investments, innovation, and operational excellence.”
Thadani said government initiatives such as the National Solar Mission, which was launched in 2010, “and schemes like Production Linked Incentives [PLI] for solar module manufacturing have spurred large-scale adoption. At the same time, private companies, including Grew Energy, have aggressively pursued technological advancements, expanded manufacturing capacities, and introduced innovative financing models. This synergy between public and private efforts has made India a global leader in solar energy deployment.”
Other large solar installations in India include the 1.5-GW Ananthapuram Ultra Mega Solar Park and the 1-GW Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park, both located in Andhra Pradesh. Thadani told POWER, “Solar parks and ultra-mega solar power projects have facilitated large-scale deployments, while schemes like PM KUSUM encourage decentralized solar installations for farmers. State-level initiatives, like Gujarat’s solar rooftop program and Rajasthan’s solar energy policy, further support local deployment. Through these initiatives, the government has helped lower costs, improve access to financing, and ensure grid integration, paving the way for accelerated solar energy adoption. These projects are part of India’s broader push to develop solar parks and ultra-mega solar power projects, which provide a concentrated area for large-scale solar development. This approach has proven successful in accelerating deployment of solar capacity across the country.”
India’s solar power industry received another boost this fall when Nextracker, a California-based global provider of solar trackers, foundations, and software solutions, inaugurated India’s first Center for Solar Excellence (CFSE) in Hyderabad. The facility, which covers 13 acres, is designed to advance solar tracker technology and accelerate the country’s energy transition. The CFSE will feature a 30,000 square foot lab, a comprehensive solar tracker installation, and training facilities encompassing an entire solar power project lifecycle, from structural, mechanical, and electrical design to construction, operation, and maintenance.
Nextracker President Howard Wenger said, “Nextracker is further deepening its commitment to developing solar technology in India with a new Center for Solar Excellence in Hyderabad. This state-of-the-art facility advances our ability to optimize our local customer’s needs into the product design. Through this new center, we aim to develop high-performance solar trackers that significantly enhance energy capture, particularly during critical peak periods in the early morning and late afternoon.”
The Nextracker facility is among the steps being taken by companies in support of India’s solar buildout. Thadani, though, said that while India’s solar industry “has made tremendous progress, it still faces several challenges.” He said that includes “supply chain dependency… India still relies heavily on imports for critical components such as solar cells, wafers, and modules. This dependency, especially on countries like China, creates vulnerabilities in the supply chain, leading to price fluctuations and potential delays in project execution.” Thadani noted that Grew Energy, though, has “stepped into a three-stage backward integration manufacturing setup to reduce dependency on critical components and keep control over their quality.”
Thadani said other issues include grid integration and infrastructure. “India’s grid infrastructure faces challenges in integrating large-scale solar projects, requiring upgrades to manage intermittent power generation and maintain stability,” he said. “In utility-scale projects, storage units at substations or grid points, though often kilometers away, play a key role. Battery systems help manage solar variability, ensuring efficient grid integration and a stable energy supply.” The CEO also noted “financing and investment… while large-scale projects often attract investment, smaller solar projects, particularly rooftop and decentralized installations, struggle to secure affordable financing. Access to capital, especially for rural or small-scale adopters, remains a bottleneck for widespread solar adoption.”
Bhagwant Khuba, minister of state for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, at ETEnergyWorld’s Solar Power Congress 2024 earlier this year said India’s solar industry had received $3.8 billion in foreign direct investment over the three financial years until September 2023. “India actively encourages foreign investment in its solar power industry,” said Thadani, who added that his company “is fully aligned with India’s ambitious net-zero goals, and our operations are designed to contribute to the country’s decarbonization journey. By expanding our manufacturing capacity to 6.4 GW and introducing 2.8 GW of ingot, wafer, and cell manufacturing, we are not only reducing the reliance on imports but also enabling India to develop a vertically integrated solar supply chain.”
Khuba noted that the PM KUSUM scheme, and the Central Public Sector Undertaking, or CPSU, program, have supported faster growth in solar power across the country. “The Indian government has opened the renewable energy sector to 100% foreign direct investment under the automatic route, which has helped attract billions of dollars in foreign capital,” said Thadani. “This influx of investment is vital for scaling manufacturing capacity, upgrading technology, and deploying large-scale projects. India’s ambitious targets for renewable energy—500 GW by 2030—necessitate a significant inflow of foreign investment, and we expect global players to continue to play a critical role in meeting these targets.”
—Darrell Proctor is a POWER senior editor.
