In the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, Madhya Pradesh emerged as one of the leading states in adding solar open access capacity. With 121.5 MW installed, it recorded the fourth-highest addition during the quarter, contributing over 11% of the total solar open access installations across the country, according to Mercom’s Q1 2025 India Solar Open Access Market Report.

The state’s installations increased by nearly 8% year-over-year, following a quarter with no installations.

India added 1.09 GW of solar open access capacity in the first quarter of 2025, a 47.7% decrease from the previous quarter’s 2.08 GW.

The commissioning of a 75 MW wind-solar hybrid power project by Continuum Green Energy accounted for 61.7% of this quarter’s total installations.

In Q1 2025, 35% of the state’s large-scale solar installations were under the open access model. Wind-solar hybrid power accounted for 95%, and floating solar accounted for 5%.

The manufacturing and steel industries added the most solar open access power during the quarter.

As of March 2025, Madhya Pradesh had the eighth-highest cumulative solar open access capacity in India, with 841.6 MW, accounting for approximately 4% of the country’s total. Solar open access made up nearly 19% of the state’s cumulative installed large-scale solar capacity. Standalone solar projects contributed 83% of the total, followed by wind-solar hybrid projects at 16.7%, while floating solar accounted for a modest 0.8% of cumulative installations in the state.

Policy Support

The Madhya Pradesh government’s New and Renewable Energy Department released its Renewable Energy Policy 2025, setting a target to meet 50% of the state’s annual power consumption from renewable sources by 2030. The policy includes several benefits for open access projects, such as:

• Electricity duty exemption for 10 years
• Stamp duty reimbursement of up to 50% on private land purchase
• Provision of government land at a concessional rate with a 50% rebate on the circle rate
• Wheeling charges waiver up to 50% for five years

Madhya Pradesh is an attractive market for solar open access due to its diverse range of industries, including automotive and engineering, steel, agriculture, food processing, information technology, pharmaceuticals, glass, and textiles.

Solar open access reduces the net landed cost of power, resulting in savings for commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers. Besides the savings in energy costs, industries switching to solar benefit from decarbonizing their operations across their supply chains. These advantages make open access models attractive.

According to Mercom India Research, Madhya Pradesh has a significant pipeline of standalone solar projects, which is expected to contribute to capacity growth in the upcoming quarters. Wind-solar hybrid power projects accounted for 31% of the state’s development pipeline.

Mercom’s solar open access tracker provides all vital details of projects installed and in the development pipeline, including those built for captive or group captive consumption, third-party sale, and projects under solar parks in the country.

The Q1 2025 India Solar Open Access Market Report covers state-wise open access charges, electricity tariffs, power purchase agreement tariffs, installed and pipeline project capacities, policy updates, and other critical information and data on the market.