Narendra Modi: Aims for 500 GW more non-fossil capacity

Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined an aim to add another 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel power capacity over the next 10-11 years in his inaugural address at the Bharat Renewable Energy Summit, according to the address published by the Prime Minister’s Office. He described the goal as challenging but expressed confidence that India could achieve it.

Modi separately reaffirmed India’s existing commitment to reach 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, made at the COP26 climate summit in 2021. His address described capacity already achieved as nearly 300 GW. The longer-term ambition concerns new capacity additions, rather than simply restating the total targeted for 2030.

The address at the Bharat Renewable Energy Summit linked that expansion to transmission networks, domestic equipment manufacturing and battery storage. Modi also called for wider use of solar electricity in public buildings, agriculture, cooking and transport.

He framed clean energy as an economic-security priority, arguing that excessive dependence on fossil fuels exposes countries to repeated disruptions because reserves are concentrated in a limited number of regions. Investment in clean energy over the preceding decade, he said, had helped India withstand global crises.

What the capacity goal measures

Non-fossil capacity is broader than renewable energy alone. The Ministry of Power’s all-India power-sector overview groups renewable sources, including hydropower, together with nuclear power under non-fossil fuel capacity. Coal, lignite, gas and diesel are classified separately as fossil fuels.

Installed capacity measures the power-generating capability of equipment, not the amount of electricity actually produced over a period. The ministry reports installed capacity and electricity generation separately. A majority share of installed capacity therefore does not establish that non-fossil sources supply a majority of electricity generated.

Modi said India had achieved its goal of obtaining half its installed power capacity from non-fossil sources in 2025, five years ahead of schedule.

The Ministry of Power’s figures provide a dated benchmark for that milestone. As of 31 July 2025, non-fossil capacity stood at 2,46,271 megawatts, or 50.3 per cent of total installed capacity. Renewables, including hydro, accounted for 48.5 per cent, while nuclear contributed 1.8 per cent.

Those figures describe the position in July 2025, not capacity at the time of the summit. They also illustrate why renewable and non-fossil capacity figures cannot be used interchangeably.

Transmission and storage underpin expansion

Modi said producing electricity was not enough: power also had to reach the homes, farms and industries that needed it. Solar and wind resources are more abundant in some regions, making transmission infrastructure necessary to move electricity to other areas.

He said Green Energy Corridors were being developed through dedicated transmission lines and substations. The address referred to an investment target of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore to strengthen the corridor system.

The Central Electricity Authority’s December 2022 report, Transmission System for Integration of over 500 GW RE Capacity by 2030, explains the planning problem. Wind and solar generation projects take less time to develop than their associated transmission systems, the authority said, so grid infrastructure needs to be planned in advance.

That report set out a transmission roadmap for about 537 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. It covered resource-rich areas including Leh in Ladakh; Fatehgarh, Bhadla and Bikaner in Rajasthan; Khavda in Gujarat; and Anantapur and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh.

The authority said its transmission planning took account of energy storage to support round-the-clock power. The document is a planning roadmap, not evidence that all the infrastructure it envisaged has been completed.

In his summit address, Modi urged researchers and investors to develop indigenous storage solutions and build battery storage capacity. He called for technologies that could make solar electricity available throughout the day and across seasons.

Manufacturing and demand beyond power plants

Modi presented domestic manufacturing as another part of the expansion effort. He said India’s solar module manufacturing capacity had risen from around 2 GW a decade earlier to more than 200 GW, while solar cell manufacturing capacity had reached nearly 40 GW.

These are measures of equipment-making capacity, distinct from the installed generating capacity counted towards power-sector goals.

On demand, Modi called for solar connections across government buildings, schools, colleges, hospitals and street-lighting systems. He suggested competition among states and local bodies, with recognition for stronger performers and opportunities for others to learn from them.

For agriculture, he urged a move beyond solar irrigation pumps towards panels on unused land and field boundaries. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s Renewable Energy Statistics 2024-25 describes the PM-KUSUM programme as supporting solar pumps and grid-connected renewable power plants on barren and agricultural land.

Modi also asked startups and research institutions to develop household systems that could support electric cooking and charge electric vehicles using rooftop solar power. He presented these as areas for innovation, rather than announcing a detailed implementation programme for each use.

Investment estimates and the implementation gap

Addressing investors, Modi said more than Rs 15 lakh crore had entered the renewable energy sector over the preceding decade. He put investment since the RE-INVEST Summit of 2024 at nearly Rs 6 lakh crore.

He also cited an estimate of investment opportunities exceeding Rs 20 lakh crore by the end of the decade. That figure was presented as prospective opportunity, not committed funding for the additional 500 GW ambition.

The address did not specify a technology-wise allocation, annual installation schedule or financing plan for adding that capacity over 10-11 years. It set out the ambition and the supporting priorities, while leaving those implementation details unstated.