Solar power addition dominates India’s generation capacity over April-Jan

India added 34.96 GW of solar power capacity in the April-January period of the ongoing financial year 2025-26 (April-March), which accounted for slightly over 88% of the country's overall renewable energy capacity addition and nearly 67% of the total electricity generation capacity addition in the first 10 months, according to a Feb. 15 release by the federal power ministry.

"There has been a sharp rise in the household demand for rooftop solar panel installations, which could have pushed up the solar power capacity in the country," a solar module manufacturer based in India said.

However, solar power generation is still quite limited as several plants are not operating at their maximum capacity due to a lack of storage and patchy grid connectivity, the manufacturer further said.

The release further showed that the capacity addition from renewable sources stood at 39.66 GW, while the remaining capacity accounted for fossil fuel additions.

Wind power capacity accounted for 4.6 GW in the same period.

The overall renewable power addition in the first 10 months of FY26 also surpassed the 34.05 GW capacity addition achieved in the previous fiscal year, the federal ministry further said.

While this development could be seen as aligned with the government's clean energy pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2070, thermal power additions also highlight the country's need for fossil fuels to meet growing electricity demand.

India's cumulative electricity generation capacity addition reached a record 52.54 GW in the April-January period of the ongoing financial year 2025-26, the ministry further added.

Coal-based power

As of January 2026, the country's total fossil fuel capacity reached 248.54 GW, the release further showed. Of this, 221.21 GW came from coal, the latest data from the Central Electricity Authority showed.

However, the federal government has been taking a series of measures to strengthen India's thermal power generation capacity to meet rising electricity demand amid high industrial activity.

The federal government aims to set up an additional 97 GW of coal and lignite-based thermal power production capacity by the financial year 2034-35 (April-March) in order to meet the country's increasing electricity demand, Platts part of S&P Global Energy, reported Jan. 30.

India's overall requirement of coal-based power capacity is projected at 307 GW by FY35.

The statement further showed that thermal capacities of approximately 39.55 GW are currently under construction, while 22.92 GW has already been sanctioned and is due for construction.

Besides, the government has acknowledged around 24.02 GW of coal-based capacity that currently remains at various stages of planning in the country, the federal ministry added.

According to a recent projection by the government think tank Niti Aayog, India's coal demand is seen to reach 2.61 billion mt in 2050, up from 1.25 billion mt, Platts reported earlier.

Even as renewables now dominate new additions and reshape the power system's structure, their low capacity utilization means far more capacity must be built to meet demand, the think tank said in the report.

Coal capacity is also projected to rise from 268 GW in 2025 to around 450-470 GW by 2050, the report added.