India is likely to exceed the target of installing 300 GW of renewable energy by the end of next month, Renewable Energy Minister Prahlad Joshi said on Wednesday, noting that the country’s rapid growth in the clean energy sector will be supported by significant growth through energy storage. Speaking at an event on sustainability, the minister said the country is expected to have 786 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2035-36, accounting for about 70% of India’s installed power capacity.
“In another month or so, India will reach 300 GW from non-fossil sources. This number was 81 GW, including hydropower, when PM Modi came to power. Solar capacity was 2.66 GW in 2014 and today, it is 162 GW. This is also likely to reach 175 GW in another two-three months,” Joshi said at the event, which included participation of experts and industry leaders on green transition.
According to the 2035-36 forecast, for the first time, solar energy will overtake coal to become the single largest source of installed energy capacity in India, the minister added. “It will exceed coal by approximately 200 GW, that is, 315 GW of coal and 510 GW of solar,” he added, noting that this would go hand in hand with battery storage, with a goal of installing 174 GW of storage capacity by 2026-2035 – or 888 GWh of energy storage capacity and 94 GW of pumped storage production.
In Parliament’s response on Tuesday, the latest data shared by MNRE showed that India’s renewable energy capacity stood at 288.58 GW as on June 30, 2026. This included 162.15 GW of solar, 57.44 GW of wind; 57.24 GW of hydropower and 11.75 GW of bioenergy.
