New Delhi: Investors have committed about USD 400 billion to India’s renewable energy (RE) sector at a chief executive officers’ (CEO) roundtable held during the Bharat Renewable Energy (BRE) Summit & Expo 2026, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday. The details of which companies committed what amounts are still to be worked out, he told reporters on the sidelines of the summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
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The government had set out the sectors open to investment, and fund managers responded at the roundtable, Joshi said. “We have given a call that these are all the sectors where you can invest. The fund managers have taken all the details, and in the CEO roundtable, they have given a commitment of 400 billion dollars,” he said. The commitments came from domestic as well as international investors, he added.
Joshi set the figure against the RE sector’s investment requirement of USD 220 billion by 2030. He said that even a partial conversion of the commitments would bring that within reach. “Whatever is committed may not materialise 100 percent. But even if at least half of it happens, we will be very close to our 220 (billion dollars), even if you consider it as 50 percent,” he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated the summit on Monday, had put the investment opportunity in India's renewable energy sector at over Rs 20 lakh crore by the end of the decade.
Asked whether the USD 400 billion was a firm commitment, Joshi said the breakdown would follow. “I have only said the details will be worked out and given to you, which company, which CEO, what he has committed,” he said. “I have not said it is not a firm commitment.”
Joshi said the investors he met one-on-one, and those at the roundtable, saw India as a safe destination despite geopolitical tensions. “The sense which I got (from investors) is... India is the safest place for them for investment,” he said.
Over the past two years, private investment of nearly Rs 7 lakh crore, domestic and foreign together, came into renewable energy, according to Joshi. He said this was the highest for any single sector.
Joshi linked investor interest to the government’s measures against curtailment, in which renewable generation is cut back because the grid cannot absorb it. “The Prime Minister’s ambitious target is 500 gigawatt by 2030. We cannot tell investors to invest in 500 gigawatt while we keep curtailing,” he said. The government brought in the third phase of the Green Energy Corridor (GEC) scheme and battery energy storage VGF scheme to address curtailment, he said.
The Cabinet approved GEC Phase III on September 30, with a total outlay of Rs 1,86,405 crore and central financial assistance (CFA) of Rs 54,082 crore. The scheme aims to evacuate up to 135 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power and includes 50 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery storage, with the infrastructure targeted for completion by 2032-33.
On Wednesday, the Cabinet also approved Rs 14,500 crore in viability gap funding (VGF) for 92 GWh of grid-scale energy storage over 2026-27 to 2030-31. The scheme belongs to the Ministry of Power, but Joshi said the renewable energy sector would be its main beneficiary. “It is a Power Ministry scheme, but the major benefit will be to MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), because the battery storage will mostly be of solar or wind,” he said.
He said storage would make renewable power cheaper for consumers. He pointed to a recent round-the-clock (RTC) tender by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). “If we look at the recent round-the-clock bid which SECI has floated, Rs 5.25, that is fixed cost. Whereas from any fossil sources, you cannot get Rs 5.25 around the clock,” Joshi said. SECI’s 1 GW RTC thermal-mimic tender, whose results came in August, discovered tariffs of Rs 5.25 to Rs 5.26 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
To address the issue of RE curtailment, some state governments are also considering battery storage in individual homes to manage peak-hour demand, Joshi said. He did not name the states. “Many state governments are thinking to solve this peak hour problem. They are thinking of providing some battery storage for each individual house,” he said.
On the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) for solar cells, Joshi said the government is weighing competing demands from the industry. Some developers want a further extension of the relief window, while cell manufacturers oppose it. The window was first given until June, and it was extended to December 31 after requests citing a shortage of cells, he said.
Joshi said domestic cell manufacturing has grown and will expand further by the end of the window. “As of today, it is 47 gigawatt of capacity. By December 31st, we are expecting, and the cell manufacturers have committed, that 70 gigawatt will be available,” he said. He said the ministry would call both industry associations for talks before deciding. “We are not in a hurry to take a decision on that,” he said. “We will resolve it in the next 10 days.”
Joshi said the government is on track to reach one crore households with rooftop solar by March. “I am very confident on that,” he said. He said a decision on raising the target further would come only after the initially planned milestone of 1 crore is achieved. “I have to come and consult and also take the consent of the Prime Minister before making any commitment,” Joshi said. In his inaugural address, Modi had said 65 lakh homes have been covered under the PM Surya Ghar rooftop solar scheme.
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On green hydrogen exports, Joshi said talks with the European Union (EU) on its rules for Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) are continuing. “Our talks are going on with all stakeholders. That is work in progress,” he said.