India ranks fourth in the world in terms of renewable energy capacity

India’s installed renewable energy capacity has increased by 165% in the last decade, rising from 76.38 GW in 2014 to 203.1 GW in 2024, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi announced on Tuesday. Addressing a debate in Rajya Sabha on the subsidy demands related to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Joshi highlighted India’s global position in renewable energy, with significant jumps in solar and wind power.

“I am proud to inform you that India now ranks fourth in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity. We are fourth in wind capacity and fifth in photovoltaic capacity,” Joshi said. “For the first time, we have crossed the 200 GW mark in non-fossil energy capacity, which includes 85.47 GW of solar, 46.93 GW of large-scale hydro, 46.66 GW of wind, 10.95 GW of bio-based and 5.00 GW of small-scale hydro,” he added.

Joshi highlighted the drastic increase in solar power capacity from 2.82 GW in March 2014 to 85.47 GW by June 2024, which is almost a 30-fold increase. He emphasised that renewable energy is essential for India’s sustainable growth and development.

“India has seen one of the fastest growth rates in renewable energy among major economies worldwide. We have partnered with developed countries and have become the fourth largest renewable energy producer in the world,” he said. Joshi also mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment at COP26 to achieve 500 GW of installed non-fossil fuel electricity capacity by 2030.

Joshi emphasised that energy security is the top priority of the government and the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Renewable Energy has almost doubled from Rs 10,000 crores last year to over Rs 20,000 crores this year. The share of thermal sources in the total installed capacity has come down from 67.69 per cent in 2013-14 to 54.46 per cent in 2024-25 (up to June 2024), while the share of non-fossil fuel capacity has increased from 32.30 per cent to 45.54 per cent. He noted that India’s total renewable energy generation has increased from 193.50 billion units (BU) in 2013-14 to 359.89 BU in 2023-24, a growth of 86 per cent. Additionally, the solar tariff has come down from Rs 10.95 per unit in 2010-11 to Rs 2.60 in 2023-24.

(Based on information from the agency.)