India overtakes US to become second-largest solar growth market in 2025

India added 37 GW of solar capacity in 2025, overtaking the US to become the world's second-largest solar growth market, behind only China

India has overtaken the United States in annual solar capacity addition to become the world’s second-largest growth market in the sector, said Pralhad Joshi, the New and Renewable Energy Minister, on Wednesday.

 

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), India added 37 gigawatt (Gw) of solar capacity last year, compared with the US’ 34 Gw. India is behind China, which added 315 Gw.

 

“As the fastest-growing major solar market, India is driving record capacity additions through strong policy support, innovation and world-class infrastructure,” Joshi said on X.

 

India added 9.6 Gw and 25.4 Gw of solar capacity in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The US added 27 Gw and 37.7 Gw.

   

However, India is behind the US in total installed capacity. While the cumulative installed solar capacity in the US stood at 211.6 Gw in 2025, it was 135.5 Gw in India.

 

India became the world’s third largest solar power producer in 2024, surpassing Japan which increased its solar power capacity from 87 Gw in 2023 to nearly 90 Gw. India’s capacity increased from 73 Gw in 2023 to more than 98 Gw in 2024.

 

Solar power installation in the country has picked up speed in the past decade. After crossing 50 Gw installed capacity in 2022, India added the next 50 Gw in three years. It added another 50 Gw in 14 months — between January 2025 and March 2026 — to reach 154 Gw capacity as of April 2026.

 

India’s solar power capacity addition stood at 44.61 Gw in FY26, compared to a target of 34 Gw. The addition was nearly double the previous record of 23.83 Gw set in FY25.

 

India aims to achieve 500 Gw of renewable energy capacity by 2030. Half of its total installed capacity of 288 Gw comes from non-fossil sources: Wind energy at 56 Gw, large hydro at 51 Gw, nuclear at 8.8 Gw, bio energy at over 11 Gw and small hydro at 5 Gw as of April this year.

 

India ranks third globally in renewable energy installed capacity, according to IRENA. However, non-fossil sources account for less than 30 per cent to actual power generation.