Total solar installations in India have crossed the 35 GW mark, according to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker. The country has a goal of reaching 100 GW of solar capacity by the end of 2022.

Out of the 35 GW, ~31 GW of large-scale solar projects were in operation as of November 2019, while 4.1 GW of rooftop solar installations were recorded as of September 2019.

India needs to install at a rate of over 20 GW a year to reach 65 GW of solar capacity in the next three years.

The Government of India (GoI) recently clarified that the target date for achieving the cumulative 175 GW renewable energy is now December 31, 2022.

India’s solar installation had reached 30 GW in March 2019.

On average, India needs ~21.7 GW of solar installations every year to reach the target of 100 GW of solar capacity by December 31, 2022.

According to Mercom India Research, the breakdown of India’s solar installations shows that large-scale solar installations are halfway through with a cumulative capacity of 31 GW in-operation while 29 GW of projects still need to be developed to meet the target of 60 GW by December 2022.

However, rooftop solar installations are far behind the target. Out of the set goal of 40 GW, only a cumulative capacity of 4 GW has been installed. 36 GW of rooftop needs to be installed to meet the target by December 2022.

In its Q3 2019 India Solar Market Update,  Mercom India Research has forecasted approximately 10 GW of solar installations in CY 2020.

Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy expressed its concerns about the performance of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the country’s ability to achieve its 100 GW solar target by 2022. The committee raised concerns about the ministry’s underutilization of allocated budgets. It stated that only 89.88%, 92.37%, and 86.97% of the overall allotted budgets in the last three years have been used and that the explanations given by the ministry for the shortfall have been the same each time.

Image credit: Encore Renewable Energy

Anjana is a news editor at Mercom India. Before joining Mercom, she held roles of senior editor, district correspondent, and sub-editor for The Times of India, Biospectrum and The Sunday Guardian. Before that, she worked at the Deccan Herald and the Asianlite as chief sub-editor and news editor. She has also contributed to The Quint, Hindustan Times, The New Indian Express, Reader’s Digest (UK edition), IndiaSe (Singapore-based magazine) and Asiaville. Anjana holds a Master’s degree in Geography from North Bengal University, and a diploma in mass communication and journalism from Guru Ghasidas University, Bhopal.