New Delhi: Noting that India's Renewable Energy (RE) buildout is geographically lopsided, New and Renewable Energy Secretary Santosh Sarangi said that large-scale solar installations are overwhelmingly concentrated in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and said the time has come to correct that imbalance. "Going forward, we are thinking of introducing an incentive mechanism... for floating solar projects, which will also ensure that RE deployment at the grid scale also moves away from these regions to the rest of the country," Sarangi said addressing industry leaders at the CII Annual Business Summit in New Delhi.
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The policy push comes against a backdrop of staggering long-term demand projections. Sarangi cited NITI Aayog estimates that by 2050, India will need 1,800 GW of renewable energy capacity alongside approximately 2,000 GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) — underscoring why the government is focused on affordability, availability and sustainability as the three pillars of its energy transition agenda.
Beyond floating solar, Sarangi outlined a broader policy agenda. On the manufacturing side, the ministry is working on a demand creation mechanism to support domestic ingot wafer production, as well as an incentive scheme for polysilicon manufacturing — targeting upstream segments of the solar supply chain that India currently imports heavily.
On grid management, the MNRE Secretary was unambiguous: renewable energy curtailment must be treated as an urgent priority. He said addressing it will require strengthened transmission infrastructure and better planning mechanisms. India, he added, will make substantial investments in green energy corridors to tackle grid stability — a prerequisite for absorbing large volumes of intermittent renewable power. Sarangi also stressed that bringing down electricity prices is non-negotiable if India is to stay globally competitive as energy costs increasingly drive industrial and investment decisions.
Sumant Sinha, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ReNew, struck an optimistic note, calling energy the core of Viksit Bharat and crediting India with having done "a pretty good job in energy transition." He advocated using renewable energy as the primary lever for managing any future energy crisis.
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Ashish Khanna, Director General of the International Solar Alliance, pushed for deeper international supply chain collaboration — and pointed to India as the natural hub for that effort.
"I would suggest that the Indian private sector probably needs to tie up a lot more with some of the international private sector, because I keep hearing from the private sector of all the countries that the road for supply chain diversification will lead through India," Khanna said.