On 10 May 2026, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced that the country had achieved its target of 50% non fossil fuel power generation capacity (installed) during the 2025 26 fiscal year (ended 31 March 2026), more than four years ahead of its self imposed 2030 deadline. According to the Central Electricity Authority’s final data for March 2026, India’s total installed power capacity stood at 446 GW, of which 223 GW (50.2%) came from non fossil sources: solar (82 GW), wind (46 GW), hydro (47 GW), nuclear (7.8 GW), biomass (10 GW) and other small renewables.

The 2025 26 fiscal year saw a record addition of 55.29 GW of renewable capacity, with solar accounting for 45.8 GW and wind 9.5 GW. This broke the previous record of 27 GW added in 2024 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a televised address, called it “a milestone for climate action and energy independence”. He noted that renewable electricity tariffs have fallen to an all time low of INR 2.50/kWh (approx USD 0.03/kWh) – cheaper than imported coal or domestically produced gas.

The achievement was driven by three factors: (1) The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for solar modules, which has brought 35 GW of domestic cell and module manufacturing capacity online, reducing reliance on imports; (2) A sharp drop in battery storage costs (down 40% from 2023 levels), enabling solar plus storage projects to provide evening peak power; (3) State led reforms in distribution companies, including time of day tariffs and grid modernisation, which have reduced curtailment.

However, the announcement also drew caution from energy analysts. India’s electricity generation (actual kWh) from non fossil sources is only about 24%, because hydro and nuclear run at limited capacity factors and solar only produces during daytime. Coal still accounted for 73% of generation during the evening peak in March 2026. The government acknowledged that much more battery storage and pumped hydro is needed to shift solar energy into evening hours. MNRE’s secretary said: “Achieving 50% capacity is a proud moment, but our next target is 50% generation share by 2035, which requires doubling storage deployment.”

India now ranks third in the world in renewable energy capacity, behind only China and the United States. The government has already set a new target: 70% non fossil capacity by 2030, including 150 GW of solar, 60 GW of wind and 25 GW of nuclear.