According to the Economic Survey 2025, India has made significant progress in the field of renewable energy. The total installed capacity of renewable energy in the country has increased by 15.8% in the last year, reaching 209.4 gigawatts. This accounts for about 47% of the country’s total installed capacity and is closer to achieving the goal of generating over half of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources.
The survey highlights that solar energy is the largest contributor to renewable energy, accounting for 97.8 gigawatts, followed by hydro power (52.1 gigawatts), wind power (48.2 gigawatts), and bio-energy (11.3 gigawatts). Furthermore, rooftop solar systems have already been installed for over 7 lakh households, with a goal to install 1 crore such systems under the PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana scheme.
The daily average power supply has also improved significantly, from 22.1 hours in FY14 to 23.4 hours in FY24 in urban areas, and from 12.5 hours in FY14 to 21.9 hours in FY24 in rural areas. Additionally, the gap between energy demand and supply has declined from 4.2% in FY14 to 0.1% by December 2024.
The Economic Survey also emphasizes the importance of setting up a robust power distribution infrastructure, with a total outlay of ₹3 lakh crore and gross budgetary support of ₹97,631 crore planned from FY22 to FY26. Projects worth ₹2.8 lakh crore have been approved to develop distribution infrastructure and implement smart metering solutions.
Progress has also been made in generating energy from non-fossil fuels, including nuclear, hydro, and renewable sources. The installed capacity for biomass power and cogeneration projects, as well as waste-to-energy projects, has also increased.
However, the survey notes that the total final consumption of energy per capita remains low, indicating a huge gap between actual and required future energy consumption to fuel growth and achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat status.