Gujarat Leads Renewable Energy Adoption In India The state has total installed solar energy capacity of 14.7 GW and recently has pledged to take it to 128.60 GW, at the 4th Global Renewable Energy Investor's Meet and Expo held in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.
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Gujarat has emerged as a leader in driving the adoption of renewable energy and contributing to the country's target of 500 GW capacity by 2030.
The state has total installed solar energy capacity of 14.7 GW and recently has pledged to take it to 128.60 GW, at the 4th Global Renewable Energy Investor's Meet and Expo held in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.
This pledged was followed by Adhra Pradesh which committed to 72.60 GW, Maharashtra with 62.73 GW, Rajasthan with 57.71 GW, and Uttar Pradesh with 47.63 GW.
"Currently, Gujarat is having overall installed capacity of 28 plus gigawatt in renewables. Out of that, roughly 14.5 gigawatt is solar. And we are number one in solar rooftop in the country, where more than 50 per cent contribution of residential solar rooftop is coming from the state of Gujarat. We have a very supportive regime from the DISCOMs to promote residential solar rooftop. Besides, there is huge potential in our state," Jai Prakash Shivahare, MD, Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam was quoted by media.
He said, "Under the RE policy 2023, Gujarat aims to install 100GW RE by 2030 and contribute in a big way to the PM's vision of 500GW RE by 2030. So we will contribute in a big way."
In the recent quarter, the solar import of country has gone down to 16.4 per cent, according to department of commerce data cited by Mercom.
According to the Mercom, a research firm, India added 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of solar open access capacity, a 153% increase from the 1.4 GW installed in 1H 2023, in the H1 of 2024.
In the second quarter of 2024, Karnataka led the solar capacity and it accounted for over 40 per cent of that period's installation capacity.
These major developments have been seen in the country as a result of initiatives taken by the central government. One of the major initiative by the government includes, PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana with a total outlay of INR 75,021 crore for installing rooftop solar and providing free electricity up to 300 units every month for One Crore households.
Under the scheme, a CFA of 60 per cent of system cost for 2 kW systems and 40 per cent of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3 kW capacity is provided. The households apply for subsidy through the national portal and be able to select a suitable vendor for installing rooftop solar.
Meanwhile PM-KUSUM solar scheme has become a game changer for the farmers in Haryana which has cut down the cost and increased the income of them.
Under this scheme, the farmers are able to use the solar energy for their agriculture needs. These farmers who are equipped with the solar panels, are using it for the water pumps which in turn reduces their reliance on diesel pumps.
The state had released a 'Draft Haryana Solar Power Policy 2023' and aim for 6 GW by 2030. This target has been divided into three categories including 3.2 GW of ground-mounted capacity, 1.6 GW of rooftop solar, and the solarization of 1.2 GW of irrigation pumps.
