India’s $100 Billion Grid Bet Is Accelerating A Solar Manufacturing Boom
IMF Downgrades Global Economic Growth Forecast To 3% Amid Iran War Alex Kimani is a veteran finance writer, investor, engineer and researcher for Safehaven.com.
Just a decade ago, the Indian government seemed hell-bent on using coal to power its industrialization drive, with large-scale solar energy virtually unheard of in the country apart from a few microgrids serving remote rural villages and rooftop installations.
In early 2015, the Modi administration set a goal to double domestic coal output to roughly1.5 billion tonnesby 2030.
However, the country’s energy landscape has since undergone a massive transformation in a short space of time.While the majority of the world’s industrial heavyweights built their modern economies on coal and oil, India is now looking to bypass this high-emissions pathway by rapidly scaling up remarkably cheap domestic solar installations.
Indeed, India is on track to become the first major country in history to power its primary economic industrialization predominantly through solar energy rather than fossil fuels.
India is currently going through a massive solar boom, and recently leapfrogged the United Statesto become the world's second-largest market for solar capacity additions behind only China.
Driven by massive utility-scale projects and aggressive government subsidies, Indiaaddeda record-breaking 44 GW of solar power in the 2025/2026 financial year alone, taking its installed solar capacity to 154 gigawatts (GW), third globally behind China and the U.S.
India’s solar sector is growing at a scorching clip with annual capacity additions clocking in at 40% CAGR, and installed capacity set to double again by 2030.
Related: Why the AI Boom Is About to Break the U.S.
Power Grid While coal still accounts for ~70% of India's electricity production, its share is projected to drop below 50% by 2035 as new coal plant planning winds down with cheap solar alternatives taking over.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) nowprojectsthat solar will meet roughly half of India's massive electricity demand growth through 2030.
India's rapid solar expansion is being driven by a mix of falling solar costs, favorable geographic factors, generous government subsidies, and protective domestic manufacturing policies.
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