Dramatic growth of solar power in India | Ground mounted solar – the hero | Regional growth | Solar vs other renewable sources | Solar in 2030

In 2024, I was at an energy conference in Delhi in which a retired bureaucrat was giving a speech. During his time as a bureaucrat, he had been associated with some of the earliest solar power installations in North India. During his speech about the current solar installed capacities in the country and states, he continued saying MW when he should have said GW, and had to correct himself at a rather high frequency. Towards the end of his speech, he humbly – and with a nice touch of humour – apologised for this, “You should excuse this old man for saying MW instead of GW so many times. You see, when I was overseeing solar power installations, the highest capacity we did was 5 MW. We had not used the term GW even once”.

Fair enough. The country was talking in kilowatts (written as KW) until about 2010, and in megawatts (MW) starting 2010 and until about 2020. Now the talk has shifted to Gigawatts (GW).

As you might have figured, a MW equals 1000 KW, and a GW equals 1000 MW. Do your simple math, and you realize that today, we are talking about capacities that are a MILLION TIMES that of what were being talked about some 20 years back!

When I look back at the growth of solar power in India for the 2010-2025 period, I’m filled with satisfaction.

From less than 100 MW of total installed capacity in 2010, India’s solar PV capacity has surged to 100 GW by early 2025. This represents a significant slice of India’s total power capacity and moves the needle closer to ambitious renewable targets.

India’s solar power journey since 2010 has been defined by fairly ambitious policies right from the start.

When the UPA government set the target as 20 GW by 2020, that looked fairly ambitious. Looking back, it is easy to think that they could have aimed higher but we should realise that in 2010, the total global solar power installations was only 40 GW. No one could have imagined that in just 10 years it would multiply almost 20 fold to reach 710 GW by 2020.

By the time the NDA government came to power in 2014, there were enough signs that the solar power sector had much higher potential for growth. Add to this the inherent industry and business orientation of the NDA government, and one could well imagine that they would increase the targets. They did, but much higher than what one would have thought – to 100 GW by 2022. Well, right then, it did look like wishful thinking. But we are all seeing reality – the target has been achieved only two years later – a rather acceptable delay, in my opinion, given this is a sector with so many uncertainties.

From practically nothing to 100 GW in about 15 years definitely implies that quite a few things went right.

Interestingly, the most important thing that went right may have nothing to do with our country’s efforts. It has more to do with what happened in another country – China.

Because the most important driver for solar power growth has been the dramatic price drop of solar panels and hence the price of solar power. And China has been almost solely responsible for the dramatic reduction in solar panel prices. 

From a high of about Rs 18/unit when the government launched its first power purchase scheme in 2010, the price of solar power has plunged more than 80% – to about Rs 2.5 per unit – by 2024. 

The other significant driver has been the success of the Indian ground mounted solar power plants sector. Over 75% of India’s total solar power installed capacity has been from ground-mounted utility scale power plants.

In addition to the central government’s efforts, many states with significant potential for large scale solar power plant installations are contributing to this impressive growth. This  powerful combination of central and state government efforts could well catapult India’s solar power sector into its next orbit fairly quickly.

Yet, key questions remain: While it is doing well on capacity, how much does solar power contribute to India’s overall electricity generation? When will solar outshine all other power sources, especially coal?

Dramatic growth of Indian solar power installations

Between 2010 and 2024, India’s solar PV capacity underwent rapid growth, reflecting strong government backing, increased investments, and falling solar tariffs.

Let’s look at the 2010-2015 period. India began its journey with a modest 200 MW in 2010 when the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) was launched. This initial phase saw cumulative growth to 5 GW by 2015. During this period, policies such as subsidies and tax incentives fueled investments, marking the beginning of India’s solar revolution.

The 2016-2020 period was quite a different one. From 2016, solar installations surged, reaching approximately 35 GW by the end of 2020. This acceleration witnessed new large-scale solar parks like Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan and Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka. Key to this rapid growth were competitive tariff reductions, which made solar power more affordable and attracted investments in utility-scale solar projects.

The 2021-2024 period saw even more acceleration. By early 2024, India’s cumulative solar capacity had gone beyond 70 GW, with a record installation of 18 GW in 2023 alone. 2024 saw additions of close to 25 GW, getting the industry to touch 100 GW at the end of January 2025. During this phase, rooftop and distributed solar also contributed significantly, expanding beyond centralized solar parks to include decentralized systems in urban and rural areas.

Growth of Indian Solar Power Installations

Ground-mounted solar – the hero

• India has seen significant success in ground-mounted solar power plant installations, with cumulative installations touching 80 GW by early 2025.
• India has made substantial progress in ground-mounted solar power since 2010, with a focus on increasing capacity through supportive government policies, private sector involvement, and favorable market conditions. The journey began with a few small plants (about 1 MW) in 2010; from this modest start, the capacity of ground mounted solar power plants has reached close to 80 GW (80000 MW) by early 2025, of the total of 100 GW. 

The growth of ground mounted solar power plants was in phases.

• Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), launched in 2010, marked India’s serious commitment to renewable energy, initially targeting 20 GW of solar power by 2022. This period focused on creating policy frameworks, offering subsidies, and attracting investments, leading to about 5 GW of capacity by 2015.
• The period 2016-2020 was the timeline when India saw rapid growth in large-scale solar installations during this period, significantly boosted by utility-scale solar parks. Projects like Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan, with a capacity of 2,245 MW, became a cornerstone of India’s renewable energy landscape. By end of 2020, cumulative ground mounted solar power capacity had had grown to around 35 GW.
• The years post-2020 were marked by even larger annual installations, aiming for ambitious targets set by the government. This phase saw significant participation from private sector giants like Adani Green Energy and Tata Power Solar, powering the total ground mounted solar power capacity to 80 GW by 2025.

Regional growth

• Certain states stand out as true leaders in solar power, driving significant advancements and setting benchmarks for the entire country. These states leverage their unique advantages—be they high solar insolation, robust infrastructure, or supportive policies—to propel India’s solar capacity to impressive heights.
• Rajasthan leads the charge with an installed capacity of approximately 23 GW, with abundant sunlight and the world-renowned Bhadla Solar Park, at 2,245 MW. Gujarat follows with around 11 GW, driven by large-scale projects like the Charanka Solar Park and ambitious plans to reach 100 GW by 2030. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also make significant contributions, each boasting over 8 GW of installed capacity.

Star States v/s The Non Star States

The top ten states/union territories for solar in terms of overall potential for solar power (in that order) would be Rajasthan (142 GW), Jammu & Kashmir (111 GW), Gujarat (100 GW), Karnataka (50 GW), Tamil Nadu (50 GW), Madhya Pradesh (45 GW), Maharashtra (40 GW), Andhra Pradesh (30 GW), Uttar Pradesh (25 GW), Telangana (20 GW).

It should be no surprise that a state such as Rajasthan has high potential. States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu should not be surprises either. But Gujarat being the second most should surprise as that is a much smaller state than many others below it in the list, and UP not being in the top 3 should be a surprise as well.

Regional leaders in large scale solar farms

• The leader should once again not be a surprise – Rajasthan.
• The second, surprise, surprise, is Gujarat. I say it is a surprise because Gujarat is a highly industrialized state with much less unutilized land available compared to Rajasthan. But thanks to some proactive thinking and enterprise, and to some extent aided by the fact that the prime minister is from that state, the state has put up some large solar farms.
• Karnataka too is a bit of surprise coming in the third position. A good portion of its ground-mounted solar growth has been fuelled by the large Pavagada solar park (2 GW) 

Regional leaders in rooftop solar

• While one could have perhaps quite easily guessed the leaders in large, ground-mounted solar farms, the leaderboard for rooftop solar is far more tricky to figure out as we are no longer talking about barren lands but enough rooftops and enough interest from the industrial and residential sectors to have solar power plants on these.

What’s the pecking order for India in rooftop solar? The top 5 are occupied by:

• Maharashtra
• Karnataka
• Gujarat
• Delhi
• Telangana

Maharashtra has over 2.5 GW of rooftop solar installed, making it the numero uno. The state being highly industrialized and generous policy support from the government, and proactive industry and businesses in Mumbai and Pune all combined together to make this leadership happen.

Karnataka’s rooftop solar growth (2 GW) has been driven largely by high adoption in Bengaluru especially by the IT sector, aided by excellent response from the commercial sector such as the educational institutes. Generous state government policies once again played a major role in rooftop adoption in this state.

Gujarat continues to impress here too, with a strong 2 GW rooftop solar installation. In addition to the well-known enterprise and business acumen of the state’s population, attractive subsidies and other positive state policies helped many industrial, commercial and residential units go for rooftop solar.

Delhi (1.5 GW, driven by significant adoption in government buildings) and Telangana (1.3 GW) round off the last two in the rooftop solar pecking order in India.

Solar vs the rest of renewable energy sources

• You might be mighty surprised to know that India’s first unit of electricity was generated not from a coal power plant, but from a hydroelectric power plant.
• The first hydroelectric power plant in India was installed in Darjeeling, West Bengal in 1897, with a capacity of 130 kW. That makes hydro power in India almost 130 years old.
• The first wind farm in India was set up in Mullakkadu, Tamil Nadu in 1986, The farm had 10 turbines, each with a capacity of 55 kW. That makes the wind power almost 40 years old.
• India has been running biomass based power for over 25 years, starting mid 1990s.
• While India has had small solar panels installed way back in the 1980s, the first MW-scale ground mounted solar power plant was first installed only in 2010. The youngest of all renewable energy sources, aged just 15 years as of 2025, solar power has raced ahead of all others. 
• Of India’s 210 GW of renewable power capacity in Jan 2025, solar contributes to almost half!
• Solar power sector’s ascension top the throne was perhaps meant to be. Really? Well, at least philosophically, yes, because solar energy is the mother source for most other renewable energy sources – some notable exceptions being geothermal and tidal energy.
• Wind is formed from the difference in surface temperature between regions. Wave energy is formed from wind energy. Hydro-energy is all about rivers,  which are in turn about rains, which are in turn about the water cycle that is driven by solar energy. Bio-energy is once again derived from solar energy, as plants are formed from photosynthesis. 
• You can thus say that solar energy is the mother of most other renewable energy sources.
• How well have other renewable energy sources grown in the last fifteen years, since 2010?
• Between 2010 and 2025, wind power installations grew from 13 GW to just under 50 GW. Bio-energy saw very modest growth to about 11 GW from 2.7 GW in 2010, and so did hydro power, which stood at about 50 GW in Jan 2025, rising from 40 GW in 2010.
• A comparison between the growth of solar power and those of other renewable power sources show the dramatic momentum solar has had in comparison with the rest.

Leveraging other renewables

• The growth of solar energy has certainly taken the lion’s share of funding and policy support, but that doesn’t mean wind, biomass, and hydro can’t still thrive. In fact, when we get the balance right, solar can be the perfect teammate to other renewables, making the energy mix stronger, more reliable, and less prone to intermittency, creating a win-win for all.
• So, how do we make sure that solar’s ascent also grows other renewables, and in turn this helps the solar sector grow even better? There are some effective avenues – from hybrid systems that combine solar and wind, to shared infrastructure that optimizes grid resources, there are plenty of ways to make sure solar shares the stage. With smart policies, better grid integration, and some collaborative spirit, we can make sure all renewables get their time to shine.
• Diversified renewable portfolio standards can be promoted to procure a mix of renewable energy sources, not solely solar. Countries such as Germany are attempting this.
• Higher allocations needed in government funding to R&D initiatives for non-solar renewables can help identify ways for wind and biomass to scale better, and at least partly in collaboration with solar power.
• Another way could be to have technology-neutral subsidies in which the government can implement subsidies that are not restricted to any specific renewable technology. Introducing feed-in tariffs (FiTs) that accommodate multiple renewable sources can provide fair competitive environments, encouraging investment across various renewable technologies rather than concentrating solely on solar.
• Investing in grid infrastructure upgrades to accommodate multiple renewable energy sources without bias could be another way to promote other renewable energy sources. The government’s Green Energy Corridor initiative, which aims to build dedicated transmission networks for renewable energy could enhance the viability of both solar and wind power projects, for instance.
• Hybrid renewable systems that combine solar energy with wind or bio-energy help create systems that offer more stable and reliable power output, and creates a win-win for both.
• Shared grid infrastructure can be established for multiple renewable sources to improve efficiency in energy distribution and reduce operational costs. For instance, Spain has successfully integrated multiple renewable sources into shared grid systems, optimizing resource use and enhancing the efficiency of energy transmission. The country had a remarkable 60% of its electricity from renewable sources in the first half of 2024.
• Joint R&D initiatives can be conducted for collaborative initiatives focused on hybrid technologies and energy storage solutions to drive innovation across all renewable sectors, promoting a more integrated and efficient renewable energy ecosystem.

Solar in India’s 2030 renewable energy portfolio

In 2030, solar could constitute about 60% of all renewable power capacity in India

From 100 GW right now, what will be the trajectory for India’s solar sector growth until 2030?

• The GoI wishes to have 500 GW in all renewable power installed capacity by 2030. Going by the current capacities and growth patterns, solar will constitute almost 60% of this. A different perspective is that the only way India can reach 500 GW by 2030 is if the solar power sector grows at a pace that is even more hectic and adds 200 GW in the next about six years, as no other renewable power source can add so much capacity in such a short time.
• Remember, it took the country’s solar power sector 10 years to go from nothing to about 30 GW, and about 4 years to go from 30 GW to 100 GW – a tripling in just 4 years. Given this, could it go from 100 GW to 300 GW, another tripling, in six years? Looking at trends, it quite possibly could.
• While solar charts its course, by 2030, the rest of renewables would have grown from about 120 GW in 2025 to 200 GW, a 67% growth – commendable in itself, but looks low only if you compare it with the 200% growth for solar!
• As of early 2025, solar power had a total share of a little over 45% of the total renewable power installed capacity in India, which in itself is impressive. By 2030, this share will be close to 60%.

How India’s RE portfolio could look in 2030

What a dramatic growth for solar, compared to the rest of renewables!

• But this should not be at all surprising, given the inherent supremacy solar power has over other renewable power sources.
• Besides becoming the cheapest renewable power (outside of power from old large hydropower), it is the most scalable of all renewable sources, feasible to be generated from most regions in India, and with ecological footprints likely lower than those for wind power, and much lower than those for large hydropower.
• Like it or not, all other renewables sources will have to play second fiddle to solar for the foreseeable future.