Pralhad Joshi pitches India as stable, investment-ready clean energy market at WEF 2026 Energy Watch
Renewable Energy

Pralhad Joshi pitches India as stable, investment-ready clean energy market at WEF 2026

At WEF 2026 in Davos, Pralhad Joshi urged global investors to tap India’s clean energy push, citing scale, policy certainty and falling costs

EW Bureau

New Delhi: Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi on Thursday urged global investors to explore business opportunities in the domestic renewable energy space, projecting India as a stable and future-ready destination for clean energy capital at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2026 in Davos.

An official statement said Joshi, speaking across multiple sessions and investor meetings at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, highlighted that India has already built 267 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity as of December 2025 and remains firmly on track to meet its 2030 clean energy targets.

India makes direct pitch to global capital

“India used the Forum 2026 to make a direct pitch to global investors, positioning itself as one of the world’s largest and most investment-ready clean energy markets, with an estimated USD 300–350 billion capital requirement by 2030,” the statement said.

During bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the forum, the minister engaged with global investors and energy companies to explore investments across renewable energy segments, including green hydrogen-linked infrastructure, renewable energy plus battery storage, and grid modernisation. He encouraged patient capital and blended finance structures to support large-scale deployment.

Joshi stressed that India combines “large demand with policy certainty, a growing manufacturing base and strong state-level execution”, describing these as key factors for attracting long-term global capital.

Energy transition as growth and jobs strategy

Addressing a high-level session on “Energy: The Great Funding Gap,” Joshi said India’s energy transition has been “deliberately designed as a tool for industrial growth, job creation and global competitiveness, particularly for emerging economies.”

He underlined that renewables now account for around 52 percent of India’s total installed power capacity, well ahead of earlier timelines. India, he said, views the energy transition “not merely as an environmental imperative, but as a growth enabler”, supporting rapid industrialisation and making electricity more affordable for businesses and households.

Decentralised schemes turn consumers into ‘prosumers’

Highlighting decentralised renewable energy programmes, the minister said PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has enabled rooftop solar installations in 2.7 million households over the past two years, with a target of 10 million households and about 30 GW of capacity.

Under PM-KUSUM, more than 2.1 million farmers have had their irrigation pumps solarised. “These initiatives are not only providing affordable energy but are also turning consumers into ‘prosumers’, improving household incomes and rural livelihoods,” Joshi said.

He added that replacing high-cost subsidised electricity with low-cost solar power has reduced subsidy burdens on distribution companies, with savings translating into lower tariffs for industry and households. “Electricity tariffs are coming down because of the renewable energy revolution,” the minister said.

Manufacturing push across the value chain

Joshi said India has built a strong domestic manufacturing base across the clean energy value chain, with 144 GW of solar module manufacturing capacity and 27 GW of solar cell capacity, expected to expand to around 50 GW in the near future. Planned manufacturing of wafers and ingots, he said, will help complete the entire manufacturing cycle.

Alongside solar, he pointed to the scale-up of wind energy, battery storage and pumped storage solutions as critical for grid stability, adding that these efforts are strengthening supply chains while generating large-scale employment.

Integrated approach to reliability and security

On grid reliability, the minister said India is pursuing an integrated strategy combining renewables with energy storage, pumped storage hydro and nuclear power. He noted that legal and policy reforms are under way to expand nuclear energy and strengthen base-load capacity.

India’s experience, Joshi said, shows that energy security, affordability and sustainability “are not competing priorities, but can be pursued together through coherent policy design, scale and domestic manufacturing.”

Bilateral diplomacy and industry outreach

On the sidelines of WEF, Joshi held bilateral meetings with ministers from Jordan and Zimbabwe to explore cooperation and investment partnerships in renewable energy, including decentralised solar, green hydrogen and bioenergy. He also met International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol, discussing India-specific data, analysis and innovative financing approaches to lower the cost of capital.

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The minister met senior executives from global companies including Acciona, ENGIE, S&P Global and Bloom Energy, encouraging deeper investments in utility-scale solar, wind, storage, round-the-clock renewable power and distributed clean energy solutions for industrial clusters and data centres.

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