India’s Solar Power Surge: State-wise Progress, Potential, and Targets

In a recent announcement, the Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power disclosed a remarkable surge in India’s solar power capacity. According to the latest figures, the country’s installed solar power capacity has soared from 2.82 GW as of March 31, 2014, to an impressive 73.32 GW by December 31, 2023. This significant increase underscores India’s steadfast commitment to expanding its renewable energy portfolio and reducing dependence on traditional fossil fuels.

The details of state-wise installation of solar power capacity under the National Solar Mission, is given below.

State-wise installed capacity of Solar Power (as on 31.12.2023)

S. No.	STATES / UTs	Solar Power Capacity in MW
1	Andhra Pradesh	4565.60
2	Arunachal Pradesh	11.79
3	Assam	155.81
4	Bihar	223.54
5	Chhattisgarh	1072.24
6	Goa	35.76
7	Gujarat	10549.07
8	Haryana	1240.47
9	Himachal Pradesh	111.55
10	Jammu & Kashmir	54.98
11	Jharkhand	121.77
12	Karnataka	9412.71
13	Kerala	859.01
14	Ladakh	7.80
15	Madhya Pradesh	3170.05
16	Maharashtra	5080.28
17	Manipur	13.04
18	Meghalaya	4.19
19	Mizoram	30.43
20	Nagaland	3.17
21	Odisha	473.03
22	Punjab	1266.55
23	Rajasthan	18777.14
24	Sikkim	4.69
25	Tamil Nadu	7360.94
26	Telangana	4712.98
27	Tripura	18.47
28	Uttar Pradesh	2740.87
29	Uttarakhand	575.53
30	West Bengal	194.06
31	Andaman & Nicobar	29.91
32	Chandigarh	64.05
33	Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu	46.47
34	Delhi	237.29
35	Lakshadweep	4.97
36	Puducherry	43.27
37	Others	45.01
	Total (MW)	73318.49

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing Rooftop Solar (RTS) Programme Phase-II, wherein, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) is being provided for the installation of RTS in the Residential sector only, including Residential Welfare Association (RWA)/Group Housing Society (GHS). The Programme envisages the installation of 4,000 MW of RTS capacity in the residential sector till 31.03.2026. CFA is not available for other categories i.e. institutional, educational, social, government, commercial, and industrial sectors as the beneficiaries in these sectors are high tariff-paying consumers and adoption of solar would be economically beneficial for them even without CFA.

India’s solar energy potential has been unveiled to be a staggering 748 GWp (Giga Watt peak). This estimate, furnished by the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), draws upon data from the Waste Land Atlas of India 2010. The revelation of such immense solar potential underscores India’s capability to harness renewable resources on a grand scale. Detailed state-wise breakdowns accompanying this revelation provide further insight into the distributed nature of this vast energy resource.

STATE/UT-WISE DETAILS OF SOLAR POTENTIAL

Sl. No.	Name of State/UT	Solar Potential (MWp)
			1	Andhra Pradesh	38440
2	Arunachal Pradesh	8650
3	Assam	13760
4	Bihar	11200
5	Chhattisgarh	18270
6	Goa	880
7	Gujarat	35770
8	Haryana	4560
9	Himachal Pradesh	33840
10	Jammu & Kashmir	111050
11	Jharkhand	18180
12	Karnataka	24700
13	Kerala	6110
14	Madhya Pradesh	61660
15	Maharashtra	64320
16	Manipur	10630
17	Meghalaya	5860
18	Mizoram	9090
19	Nagaland	7290
20	Orissa	25780
21	Punjab	2810
22	Rajasthan	142310
23	Sikkim	4940
24	Tamil Nadu	17670
25	Telangana	20410
26	Tripura	2080
27	Uttar Pradesh	22830
28	Uttarakhand	16800
29	West Bengal	6260
30	Delhi	2050
31	Others (UTs)	790
	Total	748990.00= 748 GWp

State-wise funds released for the development of solar energy sector in the last financial year is given below.

THE DETAILS OF FUND RELEASED IN LAST FINANCIAL YEAR

(Rs in crores)

SL.NO.	State	2022-23
1	Andhra Pradesh	68.96
2	Arunachal Pradesh	9.30
3	Assam	14.02
4	Chandigarh	0.73
5	Chhattisgarh	13.54
6	Delhi	10.07
7	Gujarat	1114.65
8	Haryana	118.18
9	Himachal Pradesh	15.73
10	Jammu & Kashmir	27.98
11	Jharkhand	40.64
12	Karnataka	90.98
13	Kerala	89.71
14	Ladakh	125.00
15	Madhya Pradesh	170.14
16	Maharashtra	304.58
17	Mizoram	1.29
18	Nagaland	6.37
19	Odisha	26.70
20	Punjab	55.93
21	Rajasthan	258.84
22	Tamil Nadu	10.98
23	Telangana	42.81
24	Tripura	0.12
25	Uttarakhand	8.33
26	Uttar Pradesh	74.32
27	West Bengal	4.71
28	Others (CEL, REL, NABARD, Regional Rural Banks, NGOs, etc.) and other Channel Partners	17.71
Total		2722.32

As on 31-12-2023, 51 Solar Parks with an aggregate capacity of 37,740 MW have been sanctioned in 12 States in the country since launch of the Scheme i.e. December 2014. An aggregate capacity of 10,504 MW of solar projects have been commissioned in 20 Solar Parks, so far. The State wise details are given below.

Details of Solar Parks sanctioned and projects commissioned State-wise

(as on 31-12-2023)

Sl. No.	State	Number of Parks	Sanctioned Capacity (MW)	Projects commissioned (in MW)
1	Andhra Pradesh	5	4200	3050
2	Chhattisgarh	1	100	28
3	Gujarat	7	12150	900
4	Jharkhand	3	1089	0
5	Karnataka	2	2500	2000
6	Kerala	2	155	100
7	Madhya Pradesh	8	4180	1000
8	Maharashtra	3	1000	0
9	Mizoram	1	20	20
10	Odisha	3	340	0
11	Rajasthan	9	8276	3065
12	Uttar Pradesh	7	3730	341
Total		51	37740	10504

Year-wise installed capacity from the year 2019-20 to 2023-24 (up to Dec 2023) is given below.

Year-wise Solar Power installed capacity from the year 2019-20 to 2023-24 (up to December 2023)

S.N.	Year	Added capacity(MW)	Cumulative Solar Capacity Installed (MW)
1	2019-20	6510	35607
2	2020-21	5629	41236
3	2021-22	12761	53997
4	2022-23	12784	66781
5	2023-24 (up to Dec 2023)	6538	73319

The Government has set a target of achieving 500 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, in line with the Prime Minister’s announcement at COP-26, held in Glasgow. State-wise targets for this goal have not been set.