India is on track to add more than 60 GW of renewable energy capacity in 2026, building on the country’s rapid expansion of clean power, Sumant Sinha, Founder, Chairman and CEO, ReNew, said at a high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly during New York Climate Week.
According to the official press release, Sinha said India had achieved its Paris Agreement target of having 50 per cent of its energy mix from non-fossil fuel sources in 2025, five years ahead of its 2030 target.
India added around 44 GW of renewable energy capacity in 2025, making it the second-largest annual addition globally, and is expected to exceed that level significantly in 2026, he said.
Sinha said a significant portion of this year’s capacity addition is expected to come from distributed renewable energy, including nearly 15 GW of rooftop solar and solar pumps.
He said distributed generation was making the clean-energy transition more visible to consumers by bringing renewable energy closer to households and communities.
“These distributed solar capacity additions essentially touch the common man. So, the common person in India is very deeply involved with the clean energy transition, and they are being impacted on a personal basis by it as well,” Sinha said.
Private sector mobilises $300 billion
Sinha said the private sector has mobilised close to $300 billion over the past 10-15 years to develop India’s renewable energy ecosystem across generation, transmission and, increasingly, energy storage.
With India now having around 300 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity, Sinha said the next phase of the energy transition would require greater focus on grid management, energy storage and electrification.
As renewable penetration increases, stronger transmission infrastructure and storage capacity will be needed to manage variability in renewable generation and maintain reliable power supply, he said.
