India Crosses 300 GW of Non-Fossil Fuel Capacity (Economy)
India Crosses 300 GW of Non-Fossil Fuel Capacity (Economy)
Why In News:
India's installed non-fossil fuel electricity generation capacity crossed 300 GW as on 31 July 2026, an announcement made by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). This takes India past 60% of its 500 GW non-fossil capacity target for 2030.
Source: PIB Release, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, 9 August 2026; The Indian Express, Page 13, 10 August 2026, 'India achieves 300 GW RE capacity, 60% of 2030 target'
The 300 GW Break-up
Solar power: 164.59 GW, up from just 2.8 GW in 2014, remains the single largest contributor.
Wind power: 58.14 GW, up from 21 GW in 2014.
Large and small Hydropower: 57.24 GW.
Bio-power: 11.75 GW
Nuclear power: 8.78 GW.
Targets under India’s NDC 3.0
Expansion of Non-Fossil Energy Capacity: India aims to achieve 60% of its total installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2035.
Reduction in Emissions Intensity: The country plans to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 47% by 2035 (from 2005 levels).
Enhancement of Carbon Sink: India seeks to create an additional carbon sink of 3.5–4.0 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent through increased forest and tree cover by 2035.
Supporting Policy Architecture
PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana: The scheme was launched in February 2024 by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to promote rooftop solar adoption among households.
The scheme aims to install rooftop solar systems in 1 crore households, enabling them to generate clean electricity and reduce their dependence on the grid.
With an outlay of ₹75,021 crore, the scheme is planned for implementation up to FY 2026–27.
It provides a central financial subsidy of up to 40% of the installation cost and aims to enable households to receive the benefit of up to 300 units of free electricity per month.
The Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) mandates domestically manufactured solar modules for government-linked projects; ALMM-listed capacity has crossed 200 GW.
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for High Efficiency Solar PV Modules supports domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is the statutory body that compiles and publishes India's installed capacity data.