India’s renewable energy capacity ranks third in the world

New Delhi: India ranks third in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity, surpassing Brazil, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday.The Minister of New and Renewable Energy said that India added a record 55.3 GW of non-fossil energy power generation capacity in 2025-26, taking the total installed capacity to 283.5 GW. “This is the highest increase ever,” he said. Distributed renewable energy – rooftop solar installations and solar pumps for irrigation – have become an important part of the growth, with 7.6 GW added under the PM KUSUM scheme and 8.7 GW added from rooftop solar plants.Joshi told a press conference that the share of renewable energy in power generation in India will reach an all-time high in July 2025, when green energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro and nuclear power will meet 51.5% of the total power demand of 203 GW. In the current scenario, with conflicts in West Asia leading to disruptions in fossil fuel supplies, government measures have helped reduce dependence on oil imports.“We have achieved almost 100 per cent electrification of railways, increased sales of electric vehicles and very low charging costs during the day. Solar power with battery storage is increasingly being used in homes. We are in discussions with the Ministry of Industry and Internal Trade Promotion to produce appliances suitable for induction stoves to increase their use,” Joshi said.He acknowledged several instances of grid operators cutting back on power generation from wind and solar farms, leaving them unable to produce at full capacity. “Our transmission system was developed primarily for thermal energy and will take time to adjust. Work on delaying transmission lines is being accelerated and is expected to be completed by June, after which there will be no brownout issues,” he said.