Monday 04 / May / 2026
New Delhi: India is already witnessing a structural shift in its power generation mix, with nearly one-third of peak electricity demand recently being met through renewable sources, indicating that the transition is "already happening on the ground," said Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on the sidelines of Resilient Futures Summit.
India comfortably met the peak power demand of 256 gigawatts (GW) on Saturday, the highest ever recorded on a single day, amid soaring temperatures across the country.
At the time of peak demand of 256.1 GW, reached at 3.38 pm, solar contributed nearly 57 GW, or about 22% of total generation.
Data from Grid Controller of India showed that around 12.30 pm, electricity generation from solar plants and rooftop systems rose to about 81 GW, accounting for roughly one-third of the total generation of 242 GW, underscoring its growing significance in the power mix.
The Minister on Wednesday said, "30 per cent of generation comes from wind, solar, battery, and pumped storage combined. Recently, around 22 per cent of peak demand was recorded," with nearly one-third of the demand being met by renewable energy. "This shows that India is capable of handling variability and converting installed capacity into generation, and generation into transmission."
The Minister emphasised that the country has demonstrated its capability to handle variability in renewable energy, citing the recent peak demand scenario where a significant share was met through non-fossil sources.
"Now, the almost substitutable coal import, according to me I do not have recent data has come down. By substitutable coal, I mean coal used in imported-based power plants set up by the previous regime, not during Modi's tenure. For those plants, and for metallurgical requirements, coal imports are still needed," Joshi said.
"When we talk about solar generation capacity, I am seeing it on a day-to-day basis. We have installed nearly 36 lakh as of now, and we aim to complete the target by March 2027, as set by the Prime Minister. This means we still need to complete more than 65-66 lakh. We are also trying to push this through a utility-led model," he added.
The Minister further said that "Prime Minister Modi has set a target of 500 gigawatts by 2030, and the goal of achieving 50 per cent capacity through non-fossil sources has already been met five years ahead of schedule."
The Minister said the progress reflects the country's ability to scale up clean energy infrastructure while ensuring reliability in power supply.
