Solar surge lifts India’s RE additions to 29GW in first half

Solar installations rose 43% year on year during the period.

India added nearly 29 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity during the first half (H1), including about 26 GW of solar and 2.9 GW of wind, according to JMK Research.

Solar installations increased 43% year on year (YoY), whilst wind capacity additions declined 16%.

Cumulative installed renewable energy capacity reached about 288 GW, as of June. Solar accounted for 56% of the total, followed by wind at 20%, large hydro at 18%, bio-power at 4%, and small hydro at 2%.

Solar installations in the first six months of 2026 reached nearly 70% of the total solar capacity added during the 2025 calendar year, the report said.

Utility-scale projects contributed about 19 GW of new solar capacity during the period, up 32% from a year earlier. Rooftop solar installations reached about 6.4 GW, an increase of 104% YoY.

“The growth was primarily driven by the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, which accounted for the majority of the rooftop solar installations during the period,” JMK Research said.

Off-grid and distributed solar installations totalled about 842.9 megawatts during H1 2026, up 3% from the same period last year.

Wind capacity additions totalled about 2.9 GW, down from 3.5 GW installed in H1 2025.

Gujarat led solar installations with 7.6 GW, representing 29% of additions during the period, followed by Rajasthan with 6.6 GW and Tamil Nadu with 2.4 GW.

In the wind segment, Gujarat added 1.2 GW, accounting for 43% of new capacity, followed by Maharashtra with 0.49 GW and Karnataka with 0.48 GW.

JMK Research expects India to add about 47 GW of new solar and wind power capacity in 2026.

“It is anticipated that this trend will continue into the second half, keeping India well on track to achieve its challenging target of producing 500GW from non-fossil sources by 2030,” it added.