India’s journey towards 175 GW Renewables by 2022

Record lows in price discovery for wind power (Rs. 3.46/kWh) and solar PV (Rs. 2.44/kWh) coupled with the highest ever yearly capacity addition of ~11.3 GW of renewables in 2016-17 have compelled even the most ardent sceptics to sit up and take note of renewable energy. Direct generation prices (in simple per kWh terms) no longer seem to be a hurdle to achieve the 175 GW national renewable energy target. While India has been ranked as one of the top two countries for investments in renewable energy according to a prominent country attractiveness index, several new challenges have emerged. This report highlights the major sectoral developments in terms of deployment, prices, new policies and regulations since last year. It also analyses the major challenges and raises important questions on the future path for various policy-regulatory instruments for renewable energy as its share is set to rapidly increase.