India’s Energy Milestone: Renewables Surge To 46%, Coal’s Grip Weakens

While fossil fuels have dominated India’s energy environment for decades, renewable energy has quietly staged a transformation, now accounting for a staggering 46.1% of the country’s total installed power capacity in Q1 2025. That’s no small feat. The total installed renewable capacity has reached 218.6 GW, up from 44.1% in the previous quarter. Coal’s grip is loosening, and it’s about time.

Solar power is the clear heavyweight champion in this green transformation, contributing a whopping 22% of India’s total installed capacity. With 105.65 GW installed by March 2025, solar makes up nearly half of all renewable energy in the country. A massive 23.83 GW of new solar was added in FY 2024-25 alone. Not too shabby for a country once married to coal.

Solar isn’t just contributing—it’s dominating India’s energy revolution with 22% of installed capacity and explosive growth.

Wind power isn’t sitting on the sidelines either. It grew by 4.15 GW during the last fiscal year, bringing the total to 50 GW. Small hydro reached 5.1 GW, while biomass and waste-to-energy added nearly 12 GW to the mix. Even rooftop solar is getting in on the action with 18.37 GW. Ground-mounted solar projects account for the majority with 81 GW of capacity. The diversity is impressive.

The fiscal year 2024-25 was a record-breaker, with 29.52 GW of renewable capacity added. That’s serious momentum. With 169 GW of renewable projects under implementation and another 65 GW tendered, the pipeline is bursting. This growth mirrors the global renewable boom that saw 507 gigawatts of capacity added worldwide in 2023.

India’s government isn’t messing around. They’ve set their sights on 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 as part of their “Panchamrit” goals. Regular auctions, tenders, and incentives keep pushing the green agenda forward.

Coal isn’t dead—yet. But its days of unchallenged dominance are numbered. The trends don’t lie. Renewable energy is outpacing fossil fuels in new additions, and that gap is widening. Rajasthan has already become the first state to achieve 50% solar in its total installed power capacity. What started as a trickle has become a flood. India’s energy environment isn’t just changing—it’s being completely reimagined.