India gets over Rs 32 lakh crore funding to expand renewable energy capacity by 2030

Gandhinagar: India has received $386 billion (Rs 32.45 lakh crore) in commitments from banks and financial institutions to expand its renewables capacity by 2030, renewable energy minister Pralhad Joshi said on Monday.

"We received overwhelming commitments from states and Union Territories as well as from the developers, manufacturers and financial institutes to support our goal of 500 GW by 2030", Joshi said during the annual Renewable Energy Investor's Meet and Expo in Gujarat state.

India added slightly more than 18 GW of renewable energy capacity in fiscal 2024, compared with 15.3 GW of capacity a year earlier, taking the total renewable energy capacity to 153 GW.

Fossil fuels account for over 77 per cent of India's total electricity generation.

Power developers have also committed to set up for an additional 570 GW of power generation, while manufacturers have committed additional manufacturing capacities of 340 GW in solar modules and 240 GW in solar cells, the minister said.

Analysts expect India's renewable energy capacity addition to likely scale up to 25 GW in 2024-25 from more than 18 GW for the prior period.

Heatwaves and rising economic activity increased India's electricity generation, on an average, by about 8 per cent annually following the onset of the pandemic.

Due to increasing power demand, India expects coal-fired power output to rise 8.9 per cent over 2024-25, outpacing a growth of 8.2 per cent projected for renewable energy output, which includes solar, wind, small hydro plants and power from biomass.