At COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021 via the Panchamrit declaration, under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), India committed to achieve about 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. Afterwards, it was formalized through the country’s updated first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted in August 2022.
Five years ahead of the target of this commitment, India has already achieved and surpassed this milestone. As of mid-2026, including nuclear and renewables, India’s total non-fossil capacity has reached approximately 283 to 297 GW. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka have played a leading role in this achievement.
But despite this, the most obvious problem we face today is a severe mismatch between daytime renewable surges and evening peak demand, and a critical shortage of grid-scale energy storage. For this reason, we had to curtail (hold back) 8,133 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of solar power during the April – June 2026 quarter. During rainy season, the scenario may not recur – but there is possibility that the same situation will reappear.
In summary, even having excess of renewable energy generation capacity, now India is not in a position to fully use its clean energy due to three major problems including: inadequate transmission lines, lack of enough storage facility, and proper grid security.
Therefore, it is most urgent that we concentrate on overcoming these challenges. Erecting solar and wind farms does not take as much time as to build transmission lines. Our government has already started working on that through implementation of National Electricity Plan (NEP), Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS), Green Energy Corridors et al. Let us see how soon they fix the challenges.
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