Evaluation of impediments to growth of solar adoption in India and reimagining the path forward

Abstract

In line with the global carbon neutrality targets, India has ambitious goals to be achieved by 2050. Being the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter, India has committed itself to net zero emissions by 2070 (ET EnergyWorld, 2022), with renewable energy being a central force in the drive to achieve the same. India targets to meet its 50% energy requirements by 2030 from renewables, i.e., 500 GW (MNRE, 2022), with the installed solar capacity aimed at 280 GW (Shetty, 2022). Notably, India’s solar power potential is assessed to be at a massive 780 GW with barely 3% of wasteland coverage with solar PV (MNRE, n.d.). The current installed solar capacity being about 63 GW (Central Electricity Authority, 2022), amounting to a requirement of 27 GW/year, it looks like a rather ambitious milestone in the path to net zero for India. While the capacity addition has been encouraging post-COVID-19 (~14 GW added in 2022), the growth in the installed capacity has been slow overall, compared to the likes of China (~87 GW added in 2022) (Shaw, 2023) and the EU, and most importantly, the targets that India has set for itself. Growth has also been scattered across states, for instance, Gujarat alone accounts for 62% of India’s residential rooftop solar power plants (WEF, 2022), owing to Gujarat’s own subsidy scheme and concentrated efforts to boost demand and supply of rooftop solar power in the state. There have been several policy interventions by the central and state governments to boost solar power production at various levels. The policy environment appears favourable in many respects, but a closer look at the nitty-gritty of these policies and their implementation reveals systemic issues impeding growth and leading to lacklustre success. For instance, PM-KUSUM, a scheme launched to ensure energy security for farmers while building capacity to honour India’s solar power commitments, missed its 2022 targets and was extended till 2026 with the targets unchanged (MNRE, n.d.). This was partly due to the impact of COVID-19, but also had issues pertaining to fund allocation by the states and inadequate financing of small farmers to support them in benefiting from the scheme (MNRE, 2022).