The solar generators commissioning in 2023 decreased by 28% achieving 10 GW, of which 6.5 GW were solar power plants within the unified grid, 3 GW – the roof-mounted panels, and the remaining 0.5 GW – the distributed solar generation used mainly for supplying energy to remote territories. The states Rajasthan (in the North of India) and Maharashtra (in the central part of the country) became the leaders in commissioning solar power plants: 1.3 GW and almost 1 GW respectively.
Overall, the installed capacity of RES in India in the end of 2023 reached 133.9 GW, of which solar generators account for 55%. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, claimed the intent to bring the installed capacity of RES up to 500 GW by 2030. This will allow to decrease the dependency on coal-fired generation, which in 2022 accounted for 74% of the national energy mix.
Due to this high dependency on coal, India is behind the majority of BRICS countries in terms of clean generation: in Brazil in 2022 1 KW-h of energy output accounted on the average for 102 grams of CO2-equivalent of greenhouse gases emissions, in Russia – 364 grams, in China – 834 grams, and in India – 633 grams. Only South Africa accounted for higher emission factor, where in 2022 1 KW-h of energy output accounted on the average for 708 grams of CO2-equivalent.
In addition to RES development, India plans to decrease the carbon footprint by means of developing the nuclear energy: the existing 19 reactors of total net capacity of 6.29 GW, 8 more power units of total 6.03 GW are currently under construction in the country.