Indian Renewable Energy Industry Analysis

The Indian renewable energy sector is the fourth most attractive renewable energy market in the world as per the Renewable Energy Attractiveness Index 2018. India’s installed renewable power (grid interactive) generation capacity (including hydropower) increased from 42.4 gigawatts (GW) in FY07 to 116.82 GW in July 2018, which is 33.72 per cent of the total installed capacity. Power generation from renewable energy sources in India reached 101.84 billion units in FY18 and 46.28 billion units in April-July 2018.

As of August 2018, India ranks fifth in terms of cumulative installed solar capacity and crossed 25 GW in installed solar capacity. India added record 11,788 MW of renewable energy capacity in 2017-18 and 1,832.26 MW (grid interactive and off-grid) in April-July 2018. Overall, India is expected to add up to 8.5 GW of renewable energy capacity in 2018-19. Large hydro projects form the largest source of renewable energy. Around 1,739.14 MW of wind power capacity was added in 2017-18.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, has formulated an action plan to achieve a total capacity of 60 GW from hydro power and 175 GW from other RES by March, 2022, which includes 100 GW of Solar power, 60 GW from wind power, 10 GW from biomass power and 5 GW from small hydro power. This has been proving to be the major thrust for the sector in India as the market players have sufficient incentives to move to clean source. As of June 2018, Government of India is aiming to achieve 225 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, much ahead of its target of 175 GW as per the Paris Agreement. Under Union Budget 2018-19, Rs 3,762 crore (US$ 581.09 million) has been allocated for grid-interactive renewable energy schemes and projects.

As India looks to meet its energy demand on its own, which is expected to reach 15,820 TWh by 2040, renewable energy is set to play an important role. By 2030, renewable sources are expected to help meet 40 per cent of India’s power needs. New investments in clean energy in the country reached US$ 11 billion in 2017. In the first half of 2018, investments in clean energy increased 22 per cent year-on-year. The non-conventional energy sector has received a total FDI equity inflow of US$ 6.84 billion between April 2000 and June 2018.