New Delhi: Renewable Energy (RE) spared India more than USD 100 billion (about Rs 9.4 lakh crore) in coal and natural gas imports between 2011 and 2025, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated. The agency expects the cumulative saving to climb to nearly USD 240 billion (Rs 22.6 lakh crore) by 2030.
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The estimates are part of the IEA’s India Renewable Energy Market Report 2026, released on November 3. The report also looked at what would have happened without the solar photovoltaic (PV), wind and bioenergy capacity India has added since 2010. In that case, the country would have imported around 110 million tonnes more coal in 2025 alone. Its reliance on imported fuels for power generation would also have been above 30 percent, roughly double the actual level.
“India’s renewables expansion is delivering major benefits for its energy security at a time of heightened uncertainty in global energy markets,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. He said India’s experience showed how consistent policies could help lower renewable energy costs and attract investment, and that this offered valuable lessons for other emerging economies.
By 2030, the IEA projects that annual savings on coal and natural gas imports could reach about USD 35 billion (Rs 3.3 lakh crore). That would be more than India actually spent on importing non-coking coal and natural gas in 2024-25. The projections assume international fuel prices stay broadly around their 2024-25 average levels.
The mechanism behind these savings is domestic generation. As more electricity is generated at home, India is less exposed to imported fossil fuels and to swings in international energy markets. It also needs less foreign exchange to meet its rising electricity demand. That links renewable energy to the country’s external-sector resilience as well as to its climate commitments.
The IEA said India’s renewable power capacity has almost quadrupled over the past ten years and crossed 300 gigawatts (GW) in 2026. According to the agency, that makes India the world’s second-fastest-growing renewable energy market.
Government data put India’s renewable energy capacity, including large hydropower, at about 299.25 GW as of September 30, 2026. Solar accounted for 171.05 GW of this and wind for 59.2 GW. Adding nuclear power, total non-fossil electricity capacity was about 308 GW.
Deployment picked up pace over the past decade. Between March 2014 and September 2026, India added about 168 GW of solar capacity and 38 GW of wind. In 2025, the country also met its target of drawing 50 percent of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources, five years before the 2030 deadline in its climate commitments.
Generation has grown along with capacity. The IEA estimates that renewables produced around 500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2025, about a quarter of India’s total supply. It projects renewable generation to approach 950 TWh by 2030, around 35 percent of the country’s power supply.
Solar PV is expected to make up more than 80 percent of India’s renewable capacity additions through 2030. Installed solar capacity is projected to pass 350 GW, and total renewable power capacity to reach about 530 GW.
The IEA said competitive auctions have given India some of the world’s lowest solar generation costs. Tariffs for solar PV projects commissioned in 2025 were around 40 percent below the average cost of coal-fired electricity.
India has also become the world’s second-largest maker of solar PV modules. Domestic manufacturing capacity has grown quickly, supported by government incentives such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and by domestic sourcing policies. This growth is strategically important as India seeks to diversify global clean-energy supply chains and to rely less on imported solar equipment, particularly from China.
The report also points to government programmes that have taken renewable energy beyond large utility-scale projects to households and agriculture. The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is speeding up residential rooftop solar installations, so households can generate electricity for their own use and draw less from the grid.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) supports solar-powered irrigation pumps and the solarisation of agricultural power supply, so farmers depend less on conventional power. Alongside large solar and wind projects, these schemes are widening decentralised generation. They are also giving households, farmers and businesses a way to take part in the energy transition.
The IEA sees considerable room for India’s renewables to grow further. However, it cautioned that the next phase will need significant investment in transmission, energy storage and power-system flexibility. As intermittent solar and wind take a larger share, India will need stronger grid infrastructure, better forecasting and dispatch systems, and more storage to keep supply reliable.
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The agency also named several other factors that could affect the pace of deployment: the finances of electricity distribution companies (discoms), constraints on land acquisition, delays in permitting, and difficulties in executing projects. The report estimates that addressing these bottlenecks could raise renewable capacity additions by more than 20 percent over 2026-2030.
