India's renewables sector needs a fundamental reset

India’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2031-2035 — a key goal of which is 60% of installed power capacity in the country being non-fossil-fuel-based — announced amid rising geopolitical implications for energy security.

- Aparna Roy

The war against Iran has underscored a critical vulnerability: Global energy flows remain fragile and dependence carries risk. For India, energy security can no longer be defined by access alone. It must now feature resilience from within. But does adding more non-fossil capacity deliver that?

The current scenario suggests otherwise. Non-fossil sources already account for nearly half of installed capacity, with over 250 GW deployed, yet contribute only about a quarter of actual power generation. The question, therefore, is no longer how much renewable capacity India can build, but whether that capacity can deliver reliable, affordable, round-the-clock power in a world of growing external uncertainty.

The answer lies in three structural elements of the power system: How the grid is built, how electricity is valued, and how distribution is governed.

First, the grid must be redesigned for transition. India’s power system was built around coal - centralised, predictable and geographically fixed. Renewable energy (RE) is changing that logic. India’s electricity demand is rising fastest in coal-dependent states such as Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, driven by industrial growth and urbanisation. Chhattisgarh alone is seeing peak demand grow by around 7% annually.

This is happening even as renewable surplus is being curtailed in high RE states. Between May and December 2025, 2.3 terawatt-hours of solar power was curtailed. In Rajasthan, curtailment has reached 50%, with 3.3 GW lying idle — this power could have met demand elsewhere.