Employment in Solar & Wind Sector Rises Eight-Fold, New Study Points

A joint report by three think tanks has revealed that the solar and wind energy sectors in India have added 52,700 new workforce in project development roles in the last financial year. This marks an eight-fold jump in the employment in this segment from financial year 2021. The new study is done by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), NRDC India (Natural Resources Defence Council India) and Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ).

The report holds that about 99% the entire new workforce was added in the solar sector. On the other hand, wind energy sector witnessed very small growth.

The employment provided by the solar and wind energy sectors in India was 1,64,000 for 2022 fiscal. This was an increase of 47% from the previous fiscal. The report shows that 84% of these workers are in the solar energy sector.

The report also holds that if the renewable growth continues like this, the grid connected solar of 238 GW and wind energy of 101 GW in future will generate 3.4 million jobs of both temporary and permanent nature.

The joint said that there is huge shortage of well-trained workers mainly in the upstream manufacturing sector that would include manufacturing of poly-silicon, ingots, solar wafers and solar cells. The report said, “This segment is the focus of the recently launched INR 19,500 crore (USD 2.43 billion) tranche-II of production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. This scheme targets 65 GW of domestic manufacturing capacity (29 GW fully integrated, 18 GW wafer to module integration and 18 GW cell to module integration).”

The report speaks about the full-time jobs that are calculated through a formula developed by the makers of it. Neeraj Kuldeep, Senior Programme Lead, CEEW, and co-author of the report, said, “India’s renewable energy sector continues to grow steadily and create employment opportunities. Our earlier studies have showcased the potential to employ 1 million people in the sector as India marches towards its 2030 ambitions. The skilling programmes must catch up with the new requirements arising from sectors such as solar module and battery manufacturing and hybrid projects.”