{"id":37026,"date":"2025-02-08T20:01:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T14:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=37026"},"modified":"2025-08-12T16:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T11:10:13","slug":"india-100-gw-solar-power-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/08-02-2025\/india-100-gw-solar-power-milestone","title":{"rendered":"India Achieves Historic Milestone of 100 GW Solar Power Capacity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has reached a significant milestone in its renewable energy journey by surpassing 100 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Growth and Achievements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s solar power capacity <strong>increased 35 times over the past decade<\/strong>, rising from 2.82 GW in 2014 to 100 GW in 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As of January 31, 2025, India&#8217;s <strong>total installed solar capacity stands at 100.33 GW<\/strong>, with 84.10 GW under implementation and 47.49 GW under tendering.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>rooftop solar sector <\/strong>saw remarkable growth, with 4.59 GW of new capacity installed in 2024, reflecting a 53% increase compared to 2023.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh<\/strong> are among the top-performing states contributing significantly to utility-scale solar installations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India&#8217;s solar <\/strong><strong>manufacturing capacity surged from 2 GW in 2014 to 60 GW in 2024<\/strong>, positioning the country as a global leader in solar module production, with an ambitious target of <strong>100 GW by 2030.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of Solar Energy for India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Energy Security:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/solar-energy\/\">Solar energy<\/a> helps reduce dependence on fossil fuels and imports, making India more self-reliant in power generation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Environmental Benefits:<\/strong> Solar power is a clean and sustainable energy source, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Growth:<\/strong> The solar industry has created millions of jobs in installation, maintenance, and manufacturing, boosting employment opportunities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cost-Effectiveness:<\/strong> The falling costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels have made solar power an affordable alternative to conventional energy sources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rural Electrification: <\/strong>Solar power provides an effective solution for electrifying remote and off-grid areas, improving the quality of life for millions of Indians.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Government Initiatives to Promote Solar Energy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Solar Mission (NSM):<\/strong> Launched in 2010, this mission aims to achieve 280 GW of installed solar capacity by 2030.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>PM SuryaGhar Muft Bijli Yojana:<\/strong> A transformative scheme making rooftop solar a household reality, empowering homes with clean energy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>PM-KUSUM Scheme: <\/strong>Designed to support farmers by promoting solar irrigation pumps and grid-connected renewable energy solutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Solar Parks Scheme:<\/strong> Facilitates the development of large-scale solar parks to boost capacity expansion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/22-03-2025\/production-linked-incentive-scheme\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/22-03-2025\/production-linked-incentive-scheme\">Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme<\/a>:<\/strong> Encourages domestic manufacturing of solar photovoltaic modules, reducing reliance on imports.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Net Metering Policy: <\/strong>Allows residential and commercial consumers to generate their own solar power and sell surplus electricity to the grid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International Solar Alliance (ISA): <\/strong>A global initiative led by India to promote solar energy cooperation among solar-rich countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges and the Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Land Acquisition:<\/strong> Availability of land for large-scale solar projects remains a constraint.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Grid Integration: <\/strong>Ensuring stability and efficiency while integrating intermittent solar energy into the power grid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financial Constraints:<\/strong> Investment in infrastructure and technological advancements is needed to sustain long-term growth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Storage Solutions:<\/strong> Development of cost-effective energy storage solutions is crucial for ensuring a stable power supply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Source: PIB<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India has reached a significant milestone in its renewable energy journey by surpassing 100 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power capacity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37026"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51077,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37026\/revisions\/51077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}