India's Solar Sector PM Surya Sarovar Yojana & Decade of Solar Expansion (UPSC/RAS/PSI) Current Affairs {National}

Nodal Ministry- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) & Ministry of Power

Fiftyfold Growth Scale- India's installed solar capacity expanded over fiftyfold from approximately 3 GW in 2014 to 162.15 GW as of June 30, 2026.
Global Leadership Positioning- In 2025, India added 37 GW of solar capacity in a single year, surpassing the United States to become the world's second-largest solar growth market.
Record Annual Additions- Added 44.61 GW of solar capacity in FY 2025–26 alone, nearly doubling the 23.83 GW added in FY 2024–25.
Non-Fossil Power Benchmark- Total non-fossil fuel capacity reached 283.46 GW (with renewables accounting for 274.68 GW), meeting a historic record of 51.5% of India's total electricity demand on July 29, 2025.
Levelised Cost Advantage- Utility-scale solar Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) dropped to USD 35 per MWh in 2025, significantly below the global benchmark average of USD 44 per MWh.

Cabinet Approval Date- Approved by the Union Cabinet on July 31, 2026, with a total budget outlay of ₹5,070 crore spanning FY 2026–27 to FY 2030–31.
Core Physical Target- Designed to establish 5,000 MW of Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FSPV) projects across existing reservoirs and industrial inland water bodies, scaling capacity up from the baseline level of ~700 MW.
Integrated Energy Storage (ESS) - Mandates co-located Energy Storage Systems (ESS) offering a minimum 2-hour storage capacity (10,000 MWh total) to manage peak grid demand and stabilize frequency fluctuations.
National Potential & Carbon Offset- Operates on National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) estimates identifying a national floating solar potential of 102.18 GWp, aiming to reduce 10 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
Economic & Manufacturing Impact- Projected to generate 16,000 to 17,000 full-time equivalent jobs while promoting domestic manufacturing of floatation systems, PV cells, modules, and battery arrays across all States/UTs.

Climate Commitments (Panchamrit & LiFE)- Directly aligns with India's Glasgow COP26 pledge to reach 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and achieve Net-Zero emissions by 2070.
Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO Trajectory)- Mandates electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) to purchase a progressive share of renewable power, with the 2026–27 target set at 35.95%under a notified trajectory through 2029–30.
Decentralized Solar Schemes- Creates domestic consumer and agricultural demand through PM Surya Ghar- Muft Bijli Yojana (rooftop) and PM-KUSUM (solar pumps and feeder solarization).
Tariff Discovery via e-Reverse Auctions- Competitive bidding led by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) crashed solar tariffs by 86% over seven years, falling from ₹18/unit in 2010 to a record-low ₹2.44/unit at Bhadla Solar Park in 2017.
Distributed Solar Contribution- Distributed solar solutions contributed 16.3 GW (36%) of total solar capacity additions in FY 2025–26, with 8.7 GW from rooftop systems and 7.6 GW from PM-KUSUM.

Solar Parks Scheme Expansion- Sanctioned capacity expanded from an initial 20 GW to 40 GW, approving 54 solar parks with 39,188 MW sanctioned capacity across 13 states as of February 2026.
Mega Regional Hubs- Prominent parks include Bhadla Solar Park (Rajasthan, 2,245 MW across 5,700 hectares), Pavagada Solar Park (Karnataka), and Rewa Ultra Mega Solar (Madhya Pradesh).
Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phase I & II- Built dedicated high-voltage evacuation networks, enabling the evacuation of 24,567.8 MW of renewable energy across ten states as of February 2026.
Grid Integration Capacity- GEC transmission infrastructure is planned to support the seamless evacuation and national grid integration of around 44 GW of renewable power.
State-Wise Park Allocations- Gujarat leads in sanctioned capacity (12,150 MW across 7 parks), followed by Rajasthan (10,726 MW across 11 parks) and Andhra Pradesh (4,200 MW across 5 parks).

PLI Scheme Expansion- Production Linked Incentive Scheme for High-Efficiency Solar PV Modules expanded with an additional ₹19,500 crore (total ₹24,000 crore outlay), attracting ₹35,000 crore in private investments by October 2024.
Exponential Manufacturing Growth- Domestic solar module manufacturing capacity expanded drastically from 2.3 GW in 2014 to approximately 172 GW as of March 31, 2026.
Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM)- Implemented as a compulsory quality assurance framework in 2019 to prevent low-quality dumping and promote local module/cell usage in government-supported projects.
Value Chain Integration- PLI and ALMM mandates together drive backward integration, building domestic capabilities in silicon ingot, wafer, cell, and high-efficiency module production.
Direct Employment Generation- The solar PLI ecosystem created over 10,000 direct high-skilled manufacturing jobs across 262 industrial districts.

PM Surya Ghar Scale- Reached over 43 lakh solarized households by June 2026, disbursing ₹14,771.82 crore in Central Financial Assistance by December 2025.
Zero Electricity Bills Impact- Over 7.7 lakh households received zero monthly electricity bills as of December 2025, supported by World Bank co-financing for residential rooftop expansion.
PM-KUSUM Achievements- Deployed 11.49 lakh off-grid standalone solar agriculture pumps and covered 15.89 lakh pumps via feeder-level solarization.
Farm-Level Capacity Addition- Commissioned 1,726 MW of decentralized ground-mounted solar power plants on barren or fallow farmland, benefiting over 21.77 lakh farmers nationwide.
Agricultural Income Diversification- Farmers utilize solar pumps for daytime crop irrigation and generate secondary income streams by selling surplus power back to DISCOMs.

International Solar Alliance (ISA)- Co-founded by India and France at COP21 (Paris, 2015), creating a global platform uniting Sunbelt nations to mobilize solar investments and technology transfer.
One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG)- Proposed by India in 2018 and formally launched as GGI-OSOWOG at COP26 alongside the UK, USA, Australia, and France to interconnect global regional power grids.
G20 Consensus Building- Used India's G20 Presidency to drive global consensus around tripling worldwide renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Global South Capacity Building- Providing technical assistance, policy frameworks, and solar microgrid installations across developing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Cross-Border Power Trade- Leveraging interconnected trans-national electricity grids to facilitate real-time green energy trade across international borders.

Source: PIB