India eyes record 20 GW distributed renewable capacity this fiscal

New Delhi: India is likely to add its highest-ever distributed renewable energy capacity this financial year with PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana and PM Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan schemes together expected to exceed 20 GW, renewable energy secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi told ET. A total of 16 GW distributed renewable energy capacity was added last year.

Distributed renewable energy sources such as rooftop solar and solar pumps generate and distribute services independently of any centralised system. India aims to have 10 million households with rooftop systems under the PM Suryaghar scheme totalling 30 GW capacity by this fiscal year-end. The government Tuesday said beneficiaries under the scheme crossed the milestone of five million households.

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Capacity additions over the rest of the decade will largely be driven by rooftop solar and solar pump schemes, data centres, and green hydrogen and its derivatives, said Sarangi.

Data centre capacity is expected to add more than 26 GW of clean power demand to the electricity grid by 2032, according to the Central Electricity Authority. It reflects rapidly expanding data centre footprint in the country amid rapid AI adoption, cloud expansion and data localisation needs. A large part of this demand is likely to be met by renewable energy capacity, spurring increased green energy procurement under the commercial and industrial segment. The latest round-the-clock renewable energy supply tender by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which is under process, will serve as a milestone for firm and reliable green energy, especially for use by data centres, said Sarangi.

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"Once this bid process is done and prices have been discovered, then we will be able to approach the states that we can provide round-the-clock power," he said. The tender has been designed to meet the load profile of distribution companies and other users with more storage requirements or addition of more wind energy sources. So, this might be slightly costlier but will match the load profile and comparable with any other source of round-the-clock power such as nuclear and coal, said Sarangi.

The recently approved floating solar scheme, with the support of ₹5,070 crore for projects sanctioned between FY27 and FY31, also has a two-hour storage provision.