The world’s most populous nation has just rewritten the rulebook on energy transformation. By June 2025, India achieved what many deemed impossibly ambitious—non-fossil fuel sources now constitute more than half of the country’s total installed electricity generation capacity, a milestone originally targeted for 2030 under the Paris Agreement. This isn’t merely a statistical victory or fortunate coincidence. It represents the culmination of deliberate policy architecture, unprecedented investment flows, and a national determination to prove that rapid economic growth and environmental responsibility aren’t mutually exclusive ambitions. Whilst developed nations often struggle to transition away from entrenched fossil fuel infrastructure, India has demonstrated that emerging economies can leapfrog directly to cleaner alternatives. As one prominent energy analyst observes, this achievement transcends numbers—it showcases the transformative power of policy, innovation, and collective will in forging a genuinely sustainable future.
Policy Architecture: Building the Framework for Transformation
India’s renewable energy surge didn’t materialise through market forces alone—it required sophisticated policy interventions that fundamentally altered the economics of clean energy investment. The government’s decision to waive Inter-State Transmission System charges for solar and wind projects until June 2025 eliminated a significant cost barrier, making renewable electricity competitive with conventional thermal generation even before factoring in environmental benefits. These transmission charge waivers, extended to green hydrogen and offshore wind projects, signal long-term policy commitment that investors crave when making capital-intensive infrastructure decisions.
The allowance of 100% Foreign Direct Investment in renewable energy has proven particularly consequential, channelling international capital and expertise into India’s clean energy buildout. Combined with Standard Bidding Guidelines that streamline procurement through tariff-based competitive bidding, these policies have created transparent, predictable frameworks that reduce investor risk and drive down costs through competition. The results speak volumes—solar and wind tariffs in India now rank amongst the world’s most competitive, making renewable energy the economically rational choice even absent environmental considerations.
Ambitious infrastructure schemes like the Green Energy Corridor and Solar Parks have addressed critical bottlenecks in transmission capacity and land availability that previously constrained deployment. These coordinated programmes demonstrate understanding that successful energy transitions require more than favourable policies for generation assets—they demand comprehensive ecosystem development spanning transmission infrastructure, grid management capabilities, and streamlined land acquisition processes.
Democratising Energy: From Farms to Rooftops
Perhaps India’s most innovative contribution to global clean energy practice involves the democratisation of electricity generation through distributed solar programmes. The PM-KUSUM scheme has transformed agricultural energy economics by enabling farmers to generate solar power for irrigation, reducing both electricity costs and grid strain whilst providing additional income through surplus power sales. This agricultural focus addresses multiple challenges simultaneously—energy access, farmer incomes, and grid reliability—exemplifying the multiplier effects possible when policy design accounts for local context.
The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana extends this democratisation to residential consumers, subsidising rooftop solar installations that convert households from passive electricity consumers to active prosumers. These distributed generation programmes create political constituencies supporting clean energy whilst reducing transmission losses inherent in centralised generation models. The social equity dimensions cannot be overlooked—these initiatives ensure that India’s energy transition benefits extend beyond large corporations and wealthy consumers to farmers and middle-class households.
Complementing demand-side programmes, domestic manufacturing support through initiatives like the National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules and the Production Linked Incentive scheme has cultivated indigenous supply chains. This strategic approach addresses both economic nationalism and genuine energy security concerns. By reducing import dependence, India insulates its energy transition from geopolitical disruptions whilst creating domestic employment and industrial capabilities that generate political support for continued clean energy deployment.
Storage and Hydrogen: Securing the Clean Energy Future
Achieving 50% non-fossil capacity represents a historic milestone, but sustaining momentum towards complete decarbonisation requires confronting renewable energy’s fundamental challenge—intermittency. Solar and wind generation fluctuates with weather and time of day, necessitating storage solutions that ensure grid reliability as renewable penetration increases.
India’s dual approach to energy storage demonstrates sophisticated understanding of technology complementarity. Two Viability Gap Funding schemes for Battery Energy Storage Systems target 43.22 GWh of capacity with INR 9,160 crore in budgetary support, addressing short-duration storage needs that smooth hourly and daily generation variability. Simultaneously, ten Pumped Storage Projects totaling 11,870 MW under construction provide longer-duration storage that can balance multi-day weather variations and seasonal generation patterns. This technology diversification hedges against the risk of betting exclusively on batteries whilst lithium supply chains remain constrained and costs continue falling but haven’t reached full competitiveness.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission represents perhaps the most ambitious component of India’s clean energy strategy, targeting annual production capacity of at least 5 million metric tonnes by 2030, supported by 125 GW of associated renewable energy capacity. Green hydrogen addresses decarbonisation challenges in heavy industry, long-haul transport, and chemical production—sectors where direct electrification proves impractical. Success in developing cost-competitive green hydrogen production could position India as both a major consumer and potential exporter, transforming the country’s energy trade balance.
Despite extraordinary progress, formidable challenges persist. Grid integration complexity escalates as renewable penetration increases, requiring sophisticated forecasting, flexible conventional generation, and enhanced transmission capacity. Financing the 500 GW non-fossil capacity target by 2030 demands sustained capital flows that may face headwinds from global economic uncertainty. Infrastructure scaling—from manufacturing capacity to skilled workforce development—must accelerate further to maintain deployment momentum. Yet this milestone confirms that India possesses the policy sophistication, technological capability, and political will to navigate these challenges, cementing its position as a global clean energy leader whose example demonstrates that ambitious climate action and economic development can advance in tandem.