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Solar (Photovoltaic)

Introduction to Solar PV Subsector

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is a method of generating electricity directly from sunlight using semiconductor devices called solar cells. In simple terms, solar PV converts the sun’s energy into usable electrical power. This energy conversion happens without producing any emissions, making it one of the cleanest sources of electricity available.

India is exceptionally well-positioned for solar energy generation. The country receives abundant solar radiation throughout the year, with approximately 300 sunny days annually and solar insolation ranging from 4-7 kWh per square meter per day. The National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) has assessed India’s solar potential at approximately 748 GW, assuming only 3% of the country’s waste land area is covered with solar PV modules, demonstrating the vast untapped potential of this resource.

Solar power offers significant advantages for India’s energy landscape. It provides scalability, enabling rapid capacity addition with short lead times compared to conventional power generation. Solar enables both grid-connected and distributed power generation, making it suitable for rural applications where decentralized energy solutions are critical. From an energy security perspective, solar is among the most secure renewable sources since it is abundantly and freely available throughout the country with no external dependence.

Opportunities India is Working Towards

India is pursuing multiple strategic opportunities in the solar PV subsector aligned with its climate commitments and economic development goals:

Climate and Energy Security Targets: India has committed to achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity by 2030, with solar energy expected to play a pivotal role. The country aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070 and has pledged to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Domestic Manufacturing and Aatmanirbhar Bharat: A major opportunity lies in building a robust domestic solar PV manufacturing ecosystem. India’s solar module manufacturing capacity has nearly doubled from 38 GW in March 2024 to 74 GW in March 2025, while PV cell manufacturing capacity has tripled to 25 GW during the same period. The government is strategically positioning India to become a global solar manufacturing hub and reduce dependence on Chinese imports.

Export Opportunities and Global Supply Chain Role: India is emerging as a “China Plus One” alternative in the global solar supply ecosystem. In 2024, India exported 5.8 GW of PV modules, triple the figure from 2023, capitalizing on rising global anti-China sentiment and creating opportunities for Indian manufacturers to serve international markets.

Agricultural Sector Transformation: The solar sector is working to transform India’s 450 million farming population. Opportunities include replacing agricultural diesel pumps with solar water pumps, creating decentralized solar power plants in rural areas, and enabling farmers to earn additional income through solar energy generation. The PM-KUSUM scheme targets solar capacity addition of 30.8 GW by March 2026 in the agricultural sector.

Distributed Energy Access in Rural Areas: With approximately 300 million people still lacking adequate electricity access, solar energy offers opportunities for off-grid and decentralized electrification in remote and underserved rural areas, particularly through rooftop and off-grid solar applications.

Green Employment and Workforce Development: The solar sector is creating massive employment opportunities. The sector is projected to generate over one million jobs by 2030, spanning manufacturing, installation, operations and maintenance, engineering, and project management roles. This aligns with India’s broader green skills workforce development objectives.

Technological Innovation: India is advancing next-generation solar technologies including high-efficiency bifacial modules, perovskite cells, and smart grid integration solutions. Manufacturing capabilities are pushing panel efficiencies to 23.1% and beyond.

Initiatives Launched by the Government of India

The Government of India has launched several major initiatives to drive solar PV sector development:

National Solar Mission (NSM): The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), launched in January 2010 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, is the cornerstone initiative. The mission’s objective is to establish India as a global leader in solar energy by creating favorable policy conditions for solar technology diffusion across the country. The mission has been implemented through a phased approach with evolving targets, culminating in ambitious goals for 2030.

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme: This flagship manufacturing incentive scheme, with an outlay of ₹24,000 crore, aims to achieve GW-scale high-efficiency solar PV module manufacturing capacity. Under Tranche-I, three companies were awarded 8,737 MW capacity (₹4,500 crore outlay). Under Tranche-II, eleven companies were allocated 39,600 MW capacity (₹14,007 crore outlay). Combined, the two tranches represent 48,337 MW total capacity with cumulative government support exceeding ₹18,500 crore.

PM-KUSUM Scheme: Launched in 2019 and extended through March 2026, PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) transforms India’s agricultural sector through solar energy. The scheme enables installation of off-grid solar pumps, decentralized solar power plants, and solarization of existing grid-connected agriculture pumps, with mandatory use of indigenously manufactured solar modules, cells, and equipment.

PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana: Launched on February 13, 2024, this is the world’s largest domestic rooftop solar initiative, with an outlay of ₹75,021 crore to be implemented until FY 2026-27. The scheme provides subsidies of 60% of solar unit cost for systems up to 2 kW and 40% for systems between 2-3 kW capacity. As of March 10, 2025, the scheme achieved a historic milestone of 10 lakh solar-powered homes, facilitating over 3 GW of rooftop solar capacity installation, with an ambitious target of 27 GW additional rooftop solar capacity by March 2027.

Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects Scheme: Launched in December 2014, this scheme facilitates plug-and-play solar infrastructure development. The government has sanctioned 50 solar parks with aggregate capacity of 37,990 MW across 12 states. By July 2023, 11 solar parks with 8,521 MW capacity were fully completed and 7 parks with 3,985 MW capacity were partially completed, with 10,237 MW of solar projects deployed within these parks.

Grid-Connected Solar Rooftop Scheme: This scheme provides subsidies to residential consumers for installing rooftop solar systems, enabling households to generate their own electricity and reduce dependency on grid power.

Off-grid Solar PV Applications Programme: Designed for rural areas, this program promotes solar home systems, solar street lighting, and solar thermal applications to extend energy access to remote and underserved communities.

Standard Bidding Guidelines and Competitive Procurement: The government has established standard bidding guidelines for tariff-based competitive bidding processes for procuring power from grid-connected solar PV projects, ensuring transparent and cost-effective project development.

Projects Launched in the Past 3 Years

India has witnessed a significant surge in solar PV project launches and operational milestones over the past three years:

Solar Parks Expansion: Under the Solar Parks scheme, significant progress has been achieved. Multiple solar parks across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and other states have been developed and commissioned. By 2023, approximately 11 solar parks with 8,521 MW total capacity were fully operational, with additional parks in various stages of completion across 12 states.

Floating Solar Projects: India launched several large-scale floating solar PV projects. Notably, NTPC’s 100 MW floating solar photovoltaic project in Telangana became fully operational in July 2022 as India’s largest floating solar plant with cutting-edge technology and environmentally friendly features. These projects represent innovation in maximizing solar generation on water bodies.

Large Utility-Scale Projects: Major project developers including Adani Green Energy, ReNew, Avaada, ACME, and AMP Energy commissioned numerous large-scale solar projects exceeding 500 MW capacity. For example, Adani Green Energy commissioned a 551 MW project in February 2024, and Tata Power launched the country’s largest solar-plus-storage project in March 2024, integrating battery storage with solar generation.

PM Surya Ghar Rooftop Initiative: This transformative program achieved 10 lakh rooftop solar installations across residential households by March 10, 2025, representing 3 GW of newly installed rooftop solar capacity within less than one year of launch (launched February 13, 2024).

Manufacturing Facility Launches: Under the PLI scheme, selected manufacturers launched or announced industrial-scale solar module and cell manufacturing facilities across multiple states, with capacities totaling 48,337 MW across both tranches. Manufacturing capacity became operational in phases, with 7,400 MW operational by October 2024, 16,800 MW by April 2025, and the balance expected by April 2026.

Solar Plus Storage Projects: Innovation in project development included the integration of solar PV with battery energy storage systems (BESS), enabling 24-hour power availability and grid stability support. These hybrid projects represent technological advancement in the sector.

Off-Grid Solar Expansion: The off-grid solar segment recorded 182% growth in 2024, adding 1.48 GW of capacity, expanding solar energy access to rural and remote areas without grid connectivity.

Growth Data Over the Past Three Years

India’s solar PV subsector has experienced extraordinary growth over the past three years, demonstrating accelerating capacity additions:

Capacity Addition Progress:

 

 

 

 

 

Record-Breaking FY 2024-25 Performance: India added a record 23.83 GW of solar capacity in FY 2024-25, representing a 38% increase over the previous year’s 15 GW. This remarkable acceleration pushed India’s total installed solar capacity past the 100 GW landmark for the first time in history, reaching 105.65 GW by March 31, 2025.

Calendar Year 2024 Achievement: During calendar year 2024 (December 2023 to December 2024), India added 24.5 GW of solar capacity, more than doubling the installation rate compared to 2023.

Solar Capacity Composition (as of March 31, 2025):

  • Ground-mounted installations: 81.01 GW (77% of total)
  • Rooftop solar: 17.02 GW (16% of total)
  • Hybrid solar projects: 2.87 GW (3% of total)
  • Off-grid solar systems: 4.74 GW (4% of total)

Multi-Year Trend: India’s solar power sector has demonstrated extraordinary growth over the past decade, with 3,450% capacity increase from 2.82 GW in 2014 to 105.65 GW in 2025. This trajectory confirms solar as the dominant contributor to India’s renewable energy expansion, accounting for 47% of total installed renewable energy capacity.

Component Segment Growth: The rooftop solar sector specifically recorded 4.59 GW of new capacity installation in 2024, representing a 53% year-on-year increase from 2023, driven primarily by the PM Surya Ghar scheme launch.

Future Capacity Pipeline: As of the latest data, 169.40 GW of renewable energy projects are under implementation and 65.06 GW have been tendered, providing a robust pipeline to support India’s 500 GW non-fossil fuel capacity target by 2030, with solar expected to contribute approximately 250 GW.

Manufacturing Capacity Growth: Supporting the installation growth, India’s domestic solar module manufacturing capacity has doubled from 38 GW (March 2024) to 74 GW (March 2025), while solar PV cell manufacturing capacity tripled to 25 GW during the same period, strengthening the country’s supply chain independence.

This accelerating growth trajectory demonstrates India’s commitment to achieving its renewable energy and climate targets while building a globally competitive solar manufacturing ecosystem.

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