New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the Bharat Renewable Energy Summit and Expo 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, highlighting India’s progress in renewable energy and outlining an ambitious roadmap for expanding non-fossil fuel capacity.
Addressing industry leaders, investors, startup representatives and senior officials from India and abroad, Modi said the summit was taking place at a time when global energy disruptions had highlighted the importance of renewable energy for everyday life and national development.
This year’s summit coincides with the Ninth Assembly of the International Solar Alliance and includes delegates from the Fourth Conference on Green Hydrogen, giving the event a broader international dimension, according to an official statement.
Referring to the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing West Asia crisis, the Prime Minister said India had managed these challenges while maintaining high economic growth. He attributed the country’s resilience partly to a decade of sustained domestic investment and systemic reforms in clean energy.
He said India’s investment in clean energy had helped protect the economy from severe external shocks and stressed that energy security was directly linked to economic security.
Continued dependence on fossil fuels, he observed, would leave the global economy vulnerable to repeated disruptions because reserves were finite and concentrated in a few regions.
Modi said clean energy offered a more widely accessible alternative and would play a central role in securing the world’s future energy requirements.
India targets another 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity
Highlighting India’s clean energy journey over the past 12 years, Modi recalled the country’s commitment at COP26 to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity by 2030.
He said India had fulfilled its Paris commitment in 2025, five years ahead of schedule, by ensuring that non-fossil sources accounted for 50 per cent of its installed electricity capacity.
According to the Prime Minister, India now has more than 50% non-fossil installed capacity and has achieved nearly 300 GW towards its 500 GW target. He described the country as one of the world’s top three nations in solar and renewable energy.
PM Surya Ghar scheme covers over 65 lakh households
Highlighting the expansion of rooftop solar power, Modi spoke about the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, launched in February 2024 with the objective of installing rooftop solar systems in one crore households.
He said more than 65 lakh households had joined the initiative within 24 to 25 months, with approximately one lakh new households joining every six days.
Citing a study, the Prime Minister said participating households had reduced their electricity bills by around 7%.
Green hydrogen and transmission infrastructure gain momentum
Modi said India’s clean energy ecosystem extended beyond hydropower, solar, wind and nuclear energy, with green hydrogen emerging as another important area of development.
Under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, India is working towards producing 50 lakh tonnes of green hydrogen by the end of this decade. The country is also exploring its integration into the transport sector.
The Prime Minister noted that India had started its first green hydrogen train a few months ago.
Solar module manufacturing capacity crosses 200 GW
The Prime Minister attributed India’s renewable energy progress partly to the expansion of domestic manufacturing, noting that the country had earlier depended heavily on imports even for smaller solar components.
He said India’s solar module manufacturing capacity had increased from around 2 GW a decade ago to more than 200 GW. Domestic solar cell manufacturing capacity had also reached nearly 40 GW, alongside expanding production of other components.
Modi said these developments reflected the success of the Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives and demonstrated India’s growing manufacturing capabilities in the clean energy sector.
PM Modi calls for greater use of solar power in agriculture
Focusing on agriculture, Modi urged stakeholders to move beyond the distribution of solar-powered irrigation pumps and explore additional opportunities to generate solar energy on farmland.
He called for encouraging farmers across more villages to install solar panels on unused agricultural land and along the boundary ridges of their fields.
The Prime Minister also urged startups, IITs, innovators and entrepreneurs to develop solar solutions capable of supplying power throughout the day and under different weather conditions.
Battery storage and innovation offer opportunities for young entrepreneurs
Emphasising the importance of energy storage in the next phase of renewable energy development, the Prime Minister called for next-generation innovation, indigenous storage hardware and the creation of additional battery storage capacity.
He described this requirement as a major opportunity for India’s youth and urged researchers and investors to develop solutions that could also benefit other countries.
Modi said clean energy initiatives were already generating thousands of jobs across solar panel and hardware manufacturing, installation, servicing and transportation.
Renewable energy sector attracts over Rs 15 lakh crore investment
Inviting international investors to participate in India’s renewable energy expansion, Modi highlighted the country’s demand, scale, growth potential and political and policy stability.
He said the renewable energy sector had attracted investments exceeding Rs 15 lakh crore, equivalent to USD 164 billion, over the past decade.
More than Rs 6 lakh crore, or USD 63 billion, had been invested in the two years since the 2024 RE-INVEST Summit, he added.
India proposes USD 200 million Africa Solar Facility
Highlighting India’s commitment to international cooperation in renewable energy, Modi referred to the principle of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, which underpins the country’s clean energy approach and the International Solar Alliance.
He said India was committed to ensuring that countries in need could access the necessary funding, technology and expertise to advance their clean energy transition.
In this context, the Prime Minister said a proposal for a USD 200 million Africa Solar Facility had been put forward to support solar energy development in Africa.
Concluding his address, Modi said the coming decade would be crucial for achieving global climate goals. He expressed confidence that participants at the summit would play an important role in connecting countries and regions with the global clean energy transition.
