Current Scenario of Solar in India
India just crossed 157 GW of installed solar capacity. Here's what that means if you're building a career or a business in the sector.
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India's Solar Capacity at a Glance
India's solar sector has entered a new phase of scale. What began as an ambitious government mission a decade ago has grown into one of the fastest-expanding energy industries in the world — creating real, immediate openings for engineers and technicians looking to build a career, and for entrepreneurs looking to build a business. Here's exactly where the industry stands today, and where the opportunities are concentrated.
Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) & Press Information Bureau, Government of India — figures as of 31 May 2026.
Capacity Breakdown & Growth
As of 31 May 2026, India's cumulative installed solar capacity stands at 157.05 GW, spread across four categories:
| Segment | Installed Capacity |
|---|---|
| Ground-Mounted Utility-Scale | 118.79 GW |
| Rooftop Solar (incl. PM Surya Ghar) | 27.88 GW |
| Hybrid Projects | 4.06 GW |
| Off-Grid / PM-KUSUM | 6.31 GW |
| Total Installed Solar Capacity | 157.05 GW |
The sector added a record 44.6 GW of new solar capacity in FY2025-26 alone — nearly double the previous year's addition and well above the government's 34 GW target for the year.
Policies Driving the Growth
Top Solar States
Solar deployment remains concentrated in a handful of resource-rich states. As of 31 May 2026:
| Rank | State | Installed Solar Capacity | Share of National Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rajasthan | 42,166 MW | ~27% |
| 2 | Gujarat | 32,303 MW | ~21% |
| 3 | Maharashtra | 20,276 MW | ~13% |
| 4 | Tamil Nadu | 13,909 MW | ~9% |
| 5 | Karnataka | 11,347 MW | ~7% |
Together, these five states account for over 75% of India's installed solar capacity — useful context if you're evaluating where solar careers and business opportunities are concentrated.
Career Opportunities in India's Solar Sector
Scale on this level doesn't happen without people. Industry research points to the solar sector creating over one million green jobs by 2030, with one independent analysis estimating up to 3.4 million short- and long-term jobs across solar and wind combined as India works toward its 500 GW non-fossil energy target.
The roles span far beyond installation. Utility-scale and rooftop projects need design engineers, project managers, O&M technicians, quality and safety specialists, and increasingly, professionals who understand how solar integrates with battery storage and EV charging infrastructure. If you're an engineer, technician, or recent graduate evaluating where to specialise, this is one of the few sectors currently adding trained-role openings faster than the market can fill them.
IISE's Solar Energy Courses are built around exactly this gap — from our in-depth PG Diploma in Solar Technology through to shorter certification tracks for technicians ready to move quickly into the field.
Business & Entrepreneurship Opportunities
The opportunity isn't limited to employment. Government policy has deliberately opened the door for solar entrepreneurs. PM-KUSUM, for instance, explicitly allows farmers to install solar power plants on barren or fallow land and sell the power generated — turning agricultural landholders into solar power producers in their own right.
At the same time, incentives introduced in the Union Budget 2026-27 — including customs duty exemptions on solar glass, battery-cell manufacturing equipment, and critical mineral processing machinery — are lowering the barrier to entry for domestic manufacturing, EPC, and system-integration businesses. Rooftop installations alone grew 69% year-on-year in FY2025-26, driven largely by PM Surya Ghar, creating sustained demand for local installer and dealership businesses in nearly every state.
If you're evaluating solar as a business rather than a job, our Solar Entrepreneurship Development Program is built specifically to cover this ground — from technical fundamentals to running a solar business end to end. You can also browse the full Solar Energy Courses catalogue to compare options.
The Next Wave: Solar, Storage & EV Convergence
Solar isn't growing in isolation. As grid operators manage more variable renewable generation, battery storage is becoming a standard companion to solar installations rather than an add-on. At the same time, India's EV charging infrastructure is expanding fast enough that solar-plus-storage-plus-EV-charging projects are becoming a distinct, fast-growing category of their own.
For career-seekers, this means solar-specific skills increasingly need to be paired with battery systems and EV knowledge to stay competitive. For entrepreneurs, it means a single solar installation business can realistically expand into storage and EV charging services without starting from scratch.
IISE offers dedicated Battery Systems Courses and EV Systems Courses alongside our solar programs, so you can build this combined skill set in one place. For ongoing coverage of these trends, our Battery & Storage and Electric Vehicles blog categories are updated regularly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Current Scenario of Solar in India
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission aims to generate 1,00,000 MW of solar power by 2022, creating a positive environment among investors keen to tap into India’s potential. According to a Mercom’s India Solar report, so far over 26 GW of solar PV capacity has been installed in India, and there is a huge deficit of over 73 GW of solar capacity, to be installed in the next four years to reach the target of 100 GW by 2022.
India’s solar capacity addition is set for a record in 2019.
New installations this calendar year will reach nearly 14 gigawatts (GW), which is about 50% more than the capacity added last year, according to a report by the Gurugram -based renewable energy consultancy firm Bridge to India, released on Jan. 09. The new capacity addition will take India’s installed solar capacity to about 38 GW by the end of the year. Overall, the country is estimated to add nearly 16 GW of clean energy capacity in 2019, driven by large-scale solar projects. The central and state governments have been auctioning tenders to build large-scale solar projects, whose main customers will be state-owned power distribution companies. These projects take up to two years to get commissioned.
In 2018, addition of new capacity fell primarily due to low tender activity in the past couple of years, Saran said, adding that the projected rise in additions this year is a result of heavy tendering activity in late 2017 and early 2018. After dipping in the second half of 2018, government tenders picked up again in December, when India’s ministry of new and renewable energy announced plans to issue tenders for 60 GW by March 2020.
As land becomes tougher to acquire, developers are now eyeing water bodies. “The latest tenders for floating solar have gone well and there has been a lot of excitement from developers,” Saran said, adding that new auctions for floating solar projects of up to 5 GW are expected from the government in 2019. Apart from such large-scale projects, installation of rooftop solar panels also continues to rise. Indian households have not yet warmed to rooftop solar panels due to their high cost of purchase. But commercial and industrial buildings, which are supplied grid electricity at significantly higher rates than residential users, find it economical to switch over to solar panels.