How the right conditions could position India as a solar and wind leader
India’s renewable energy ambitions are being realised at huge scale in both the operation and manufacturing segments. While international supply chain challenges and policies can influence future progress - such as accelerating solar and wind capacity and production - the nation is well placed to become a renewables superpower.
A Leadership Spotlight Session titled, “The solar and wind opportunity: realising the dual potential of scaling India’s renewables outlook” discussed this and more on day three of India Energy Week 2026.
The Transition Stage heard the country had prospered from a mix of cost reductions, tech advancements, and supportive national policies - as confirmed by Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
He said, “We have now scaled up from about 2GW of solar deployment to about 137GW, and similarly, from about 25GW of wind in 2014 to about 55GW now.”
However, Sarangi warned: “Going forward in our ambition to reach 500GW by 2030, we can’t keep focusing only on capacity expansion, but also the integration of renewable energy into the entire grid system.
“In this context, a lot of our current as well as future policies are going to focus on effective grid integration and address supply chain resilience.” With that in mind, Sarangi underlined the importance of ensuring indigenous solar and wind manufacturing and mineral refining.
Gyanesh Chaudhary, Chairman and MD, Vikram Solar, went further on India’s further vertical integration of supply chains. “Early adoption for India was a blessing, but also it raised gaps in terms of where we were heading,” he said. “Initially, there was a capacity constraint, then we had a lot of import challenges associated with not having a defined ecosystem. I’m talking early 2000s when we were really building the sector.” “Subsequently, while there were policies around creation of the manufacturing base, there was also consistent focus on building markets.”
Access to global markets
Chaudhary said India is today the third - soon to be second - largest renewable deployer, but still needs larger access to technology and global markets “because we are making in India…making the best in India”. “I have been in this sector for over two decades and seen the transition. We used to struggle for manpower, for efficient resources. Today, the world is looking at us as an alternative to China, and we must capture this huge opportunity.”
Erik Solheim, President of the International Advisory Board – GH2 India (Green Hydrogen India) said he was confident India would also surpass the US to be the second-largest producer of renewable energy in the world. “That’s such a fantastic, positive achievement. Of course, you should set a target to do even more in the future.”
But Solheim warned against permits taking longer than project construction, as in some countries, and urged ensuring local people understand the benefits of installation. “India also needs to contemplate its relationship with China. How we can bring in Chinese companies…make that as a platform for them producing and creating their jobs in India.”
Aditya Pyasi, CEO, Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, praised policy for helping steer solar and wind manufacturing through geopolitical turmoil. “Sometime back, people used to think whether manufacturing can be done here. Now all manufacturers are looking at where to set up shop in India,” he said.
Low cost, high value
On supply chain costs, Chaudhary said localisation of solar panels and some cell capacity had made India more resilient, but more than 80% of polysilicon was still coming from China.
“We all know that India is a frugal nation,” he said. “We want everything the best, but also the cheapest, which is absolutely the way to do it because we’re a large nation, and we have a lot to achieve. However, in this volatile scenario, what is missing is probably some sort of standardisations in terms of what is expected from manufacturers like us, and how we can make sure we deliver the best over a long period of time.”
Chaudhary continued, “The volatility in the last 20 years, I’ve seen probably 26 cycles. As appetite grows, not just in India, but globally, volatility cycles are impacting much more. To be able to absorb that, some sort of stabilisation exercise needs to be done so that large capacities can see the light of day; building cohesive ecosystems for import substitution, and also creating markets in the export scenario…these will help mitigate some of these volatile scenarios.”
Solheim concluded the world was “at a turning point in human history”.
“Last year, it produced more solar and wind than we produced coal energy. That’s the enormous opportunity now for India, and that’s why we are here being very optimistic.”
