New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) India has made strong progress in renewable energy by adding 23 gigawatts (GW) of clean capacity in just the first five months of the current financial year, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the ‘FT Live Energy Transition Summit India’ in the national capital, the minister said that this growth shows India’s ability to achieve in a few months what many countries cannot match in several years.

“So far in this fiscal, India added 23 GW of renewable capacity in just 5 months. Now this is a feat that most nations cannot achieve in several years,” Joshi stated.

With the latest additions, the country’s installed non-fossil fuel capacity has reached around 252 GW.

“This means India has already crossed the halfway mark towards its target of installing 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030,” the Union Minister added.

Joshi also highlighted that India now gets half of its total electricity capacity from non-fossil sources.

“This target was achieved five years ahead of schedule, as part of the nation’s commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement,” Joshi mentioned.

He pointed out that India is the only G20 country to have met its 2030 goals as early as 2021.

Talking about the government’s push for solar energy, Joshi said that around 20 lakh homes have already been solarised under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, which aims to reach 1 crore households.

The scheme is expected to add 30 GW of rooftop solar capacity. The number of beneficiaries under this programme is larger than the populations of countries such as Austria, Switzerland, Israel, or Singapore.

The minister further said that India’s renewable energy sector has seen extraordinary growth in recent years, with rapid expansion in solar, wind, and green hydrogen projects.

He noted that the country’s solar module manufacturing capacity has now reached 100 GW, doubling between March 2024 and March 2025.

“In the same period, PV cell manufacturing capacity tripled from 9 GW to 25 GW and currently stands at 27 GW,” the Union Minister added.

He credited bold government policies such as production-linked incentives (PLI), competitive bidding, and regulatory reforms for this transformation.

–IANS

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