India poised to join China as global leaders in renewables: Report
New Delhi, May 22: India is poised to join China as the two global leaders in the renewable energy technology-led transformation, a US-based research institute said on Tuesday.
India doubled solar installs to 10 GW in 2017-18 and is rapidly up-scaling capacity to strive towards the ambitious and transformational 100 GW of solar by 2022, Director of Energy Finance Studies of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) Tim Buckley said.
India's "scheme for development of solar parks" is becoming a successful model to attract foreign capital, says the report "Solar is Driving a Global Shift in Electricity Markets".
The world's largest solar project to-date at 2,225 megawatt (MW) is under construction at the Bhadla Industrial Solar Park in Rajasthan.
This is more than double the largest fully operational solar park in India, that being the 1,000 MW Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh.
The year 2017 saw the commissioning of the world's largest floating solar project Sungrow's 40 MW development in Anhui Province in China.
But as an illustration of the rapid scaling up of solar, two 150 MW floating solar projects are due for commissioning in China in 2018.
Given land constraints, India's new policy target for 10,000 MW of floating solar nationally is a logical and commendable initiative to leverage this new innovation to enhance solar application and value proposition, said the report.
The report details some of the world's largest utility-scale, concentrated solar power, rooftop solar, floating solar, solar with battery storage projects, corporate renewable power purchase deals and utilities that lead on the renewable energy front.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance reports global solar installations total 98 GW in 2017, 31 per cent more than the previous year.
China installed 53 GW in 2017, over half the global total deployed in 2017.
"As major corporations sign on to such deals, they continue to look to 'green' their entire supply chains, many of which sit in emerging markets. This activity helps expand access to capital in markets, which is often a key constraint," co-author Kashish Shah said in a statement.
India's National Electricity Plan aims to reduce thermal power from 67 per cent of capacity in 2017 to just 43 per cent by 2027.
Experts say major solar energy tenders are occurring every week in India at prices now consistently 10-20 per cent below the cost of existing domestic thermal power generation and 50 per cent below new imported coal-fired power.
In a major endorsement of India's solar mission, Tata Power this month embraced renewables as the way forward with a $5 billion plan, like the NTPC.
"Banks clogged with thermal power plant bad debts won't keep lending to this stranded asset sector; painful for India, but a positive for the transition to renewables," Buckley told here.
Coal plants by NTPC and Adani are being retrofitted with pollution emissions controls and end of life polluters are being shut, 7 GW in the last two years alone.
The largest power plant in India, Adani's Mundra 4.6 GW import coal plant has been turned off since February 2018, unviable to run along with Tata's Mundra 4 GW import coal plant, a $9 billion stranded asset.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
