The growth of India’s renewable energy sector over the last decade has been a bright spot for the country’s economic development and energy transition efforts. Since 2010, solar and wind generation capacity has increased sevenfold, from 16 gigawatts (GW) to over 121 GW in 2023, accounting for about 30 percent of India’s total generation capacity. Accompanying the capacity addition is a steep decrease in costs; for instance, the cost of solar energy has decreased by a factor of ten since 2010. Although India missed its 2022 target of 175 GW renewable energy, the country is a step closer to achieving its 2030 target of 500 GW. Amid growing electricity demand, efforts to boost uptake mean that renewable energy must meet an increasing share of the new demand.
Amid the turn to renewables in India, there has been an understanding of the role of the states in the energy transition. Indeed, state governments have as much influence on the country’s energy transition as the central government. Most of India’s renewable energy capacity is contained in a few states in the west and south, with the east having the least renewable capacity and remaining largely coal-dependent. Although there has been some discourse on enabling the coal-dependent communities in eastern India to transition to renewables, this will require significant efforts to boost renewable energy generation capacity in this region. To meet India’s ambitious renewables goals in the medium term (2030) and net-zero goals by 2070, regional disparities in capacity must decrease even as the overall capacity grows.
The disparity in renewable energy deployment in India has implications for climate, air pollution, and the country’s energy transition. Ensuring that India’s eastern regions become part of its clean energy future is vital to ensure a just transition based on equity. Without concerted policy efforts to incorporate the eastern states into India’s renewable fold, the region risks being left behind in reaping the benefits of transition.
This brief is part of an edited volume Powering India’s Future: Towards a People-Positive Energy Transition published by the Observer Research Foundation for The Energy Transition Dialogues in New Delhi, November 1-3, 2023.