India has invested over $13 billion to ramp up capacity creation in two flagship schemes in the distributed solar power sector, including the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY) for rooftop solarisation and the PM-KUSUM scheme for the solarisation of agricultural pump sets.
This mega investment push, along with technology adoption at the consumer level, has ensured an exponential jump in capacity. “More than half of the country's distributed renewable energy (DRE) capacity of around 35 GW was set up in the past 15 months alone,” the power ministry’s Joint Secretary J V N Subramanyam said.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the India AI Impact Summit here, he said AI integration in energy systems will boost the implementation of the India Energy Stack (IES), creating a game-changing intervention for the further growth of the DRE sector. “In the next 2–3 years, AI and renewable energy convergence would cause the overall cost of power to consumers to fall, industrial competitiveness to increase and will make the grids ready for energy transition,” Subramanyam added.
At a separate event in Mumbai, referring to the two solar schemes, New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi said rooftop solar installations in the country will reach 1 crore in the next two years, helping generate 30 GW of power. He said India is set to cross the milestone of 30 lakh beneficiary households under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana this week, marking a major step in scaling distributed rooftop solar across the country.
“Through the implementation of the PM-KUSUM, energy cost has come down to Rs 3 from the earlier Rs 8 in Maharashtra,” Joshi said, speaking at the Mumbai Climate Week today. He also announced that 1 lakh pumps would be sanctioned to Maharashtra under the scheme.
The minister highlighted that through flagship schemes such as PM-KUSUM and the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, farmers and households are becoming active participants in the clean energy transition, transforming from consumers to energy producers. He also called for the involvement of the private sector and startups in Maharashtra to find solutions for grid stability as renewable deployment increases.
Joshi also said that under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, India has set a new benchmark in green hydrogen pricing, with discovered prices falling to Rs 279 per kg. He said the latest discovery of globally competitive green ammonia pricing has reinforced India’s leadership in emerging clean fuel markets.
 "India invested $13 bn in distributed solar, adding 35 GW in 15 months")
