India's Clean Energy Capacity Surges 22% to 297.36 GW, Renewables Briefly Top 50% of Power Demand

India's non-fossil fuel energy capacity rose to 297.36 GW in June 2026, a 22% year-on-year increase, while renewable sources briefly supplied over half of the country's electricity demand for the second time on July 6.

This article was drafted with AI assistance from multiple sources and was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication.

India's non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity reached 297.36 GW in June 2026, up more than 22 percent from 242.78 GW in the same month last year, according to official data released on July 11. Solar installations grew significantly, climbing to 162.15 GW from 116.25 GW, while wind capacity expanded to 57.44 GW from 51.67 GW over the same period.

New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi credited the growth to government policies, writing on X that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India is moving toward its clean energy targets "with speed, scale and determination."

Separately, on July 6, renewable energy sources met 50.02 percent of India's electricity demand at 11:46 AM, when total power consumption stood at 221.5 GW and generation from solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear plants totaled nearly 110 GW. This marked only the second time clean energy has crossed the 50 percent threshold, following a brief peak of 51.5 percent on July 29, 2025.

Disha Agarwal, a fellow at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), observed that clean energy has supplied more than 45 percent of India's power demand for over 50 days since May 2026. Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance, described the event as a "powerful demonstration" of what can be achieved technically.

The country's total installed power generation capacity currently stands at 542.3 GW, with 250.8 GW from thermal sources and 282.7 GW from renewable energy.