PURI : India has recorded its highest-ever non-fossil capacity addition of 31.25 Gigawatts (GW), including 24.28 GW of solar energy in the current fiscal, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Prahlad Joshi said on Saturday.
Addressing the inaugural session of the three-day Global Energy Leaders Summit 2025 in Puri, Joshi also announced 1.5 lakh rooftop solar units for Odisha, which would benefit over seven lakh people in the State, particularly from economically weaker sections. The units would be provided under the New Utility-Led Aggregation Model of the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, which is consumer-owned.
“In the last 11 years, the country’s solar capacity has grown from 2.8 GW to around 130 GW, a rise of more than 4,500%. Between 2022 and 2024 alone, India contributed 46 GW to global solar additions, becoming the third-largest contributor,” Joshi said.
He added that this surge has made India a key driver of global renewable expansion. “After taking nearly 70 years to reach 1 Terawatt (TW) of renewable energy capacity in 2022, the world achieved 2 TW by 2024, adding the second terawatt in just two years,” he said.
India holds the world’s fifth-largest coal reserves and is the second-largest consumer of coal. “Even with this abundance, India is steadily balancing coal with renewable energy as the transition gathers pace. With global mechanisms now shaping industrial competitiveness, India’s shift towards renewable energy has become even more urgent and strategically important,” he added.