80% Of India’s Solar Projects Planned In Only 5 States

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The latest data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) claimed that around 80 percent of the ongoing mega solar projects are confined to only five renewable-rich states of the country. Moreover, around ten states do not have any ongoing solar projects in hand.

MNRE Minister RK Singh shared the latest data before the Lok Sabha in response to a recent starred question posed by Lok Sabha MP Ramya Haridas.  

In his written statement, Singh said that most of these projects are developed by private players through a transparent bidding process where the developers identify the locations for setting up these renewable projects. 

The minister said that as on June 30, 2023, solar projects with a cumulative capacity of 55,902 MW are under implementation in a total of 18 states. In contrast, two solar projects with a total capacity of 5.4 Gigawatt (GW) would be setup anywhere in the country, for which locations had not been finalized.  

The ongoing solar projects included 23,344 MW of ongoing solar projects in Rajasthan and 3,773 MW of ongoing solar projects in Maharashtra. It is followed by Gujarat (12,424 MW), Andhra Pradesh (2,650MW) and Karnataka (2181 MW). 

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These five states, which are also renewable-rich states in terms of their higher installed renewable energy capacity in total, have a cumulative ongoing solar project with a total capacity of 44, 372 MW, around 79 percent of India’s total ongoing solar projects. 

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Even with the figures for ongoing solar projects, the ongoing wind projects are mostly confined to these states. Many are coastal states in the western or southern part of the country, like Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. In total, 14.38 MW of wind projects are under construction.

In addition to this, 533.65 MW of small hydro projects are under construction, whereas large hydro projects with a cumulative capacity of 18033 MW are under construction in 13 Indian states, the statement of the minister in Lok Sabha said.