India added 25.2 gigawatt (GW) of solar power capacity in the calendar year 2024, significantly higher than 8.3 GW installed in 2023, as per Mercom’s recent report on solar market. The market witnessed record installations last year surpassing annual capacity additions of all previous years.
During last year, 22 GW of large-scale solar projects were installed, registering an increase of as much as 235% from just 6.6 GW in 2023. The increase was attributed to commissioning of significant capacities from previously delayed projects.
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Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra saw the highest number of large-scale installations accounting for 32%, 27%, and 8% of the cumulative capacity additions.
New power capacity added in 2024 stood at 34.7 GW, as per the data, of which, solar power accounted for 73% of the additions.
During the Oct-Dec quarter of 2024, the country added 7.8 GW of solar power capacity, up 118% from 3.6 GW installed in the previous quarter. The country had installed 1.9 GW solar capacity in the fourth quarter of 2023.
As per the report, in 2024, tenders were announced for 79.3 GW of large-scale solar projects, the highest so far. Tender announcements grew by 39% from 57 GW in 2023, while auctions were consulted for 48.1 GW of projects, up by 117%, from 22.2 GW in 2023.
Additionally, rooftop solar installations grew by 86% to 3.2 GW in 2024 against just 1.7 GW in 2023 driven by record residential rooftop solar installations supported by the government’s newly launched PM Suryaghar Muft Bijlee Yojana scheme.
As per another report by Mercom, residential consumers accounted for 74% of installations last year, the largest of all. Industrial, commercial, and the government sectors accounted for 19%, 6%, and 0.8% respectively of the total capacity added.
Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Kerala recorded the highest number of rooftop solar additions in 2024 accounting for 36%, 20%, and 9% of the total capacity additions, as per Mercom.
Tenders for rooftop solar capacities issued last year totalled 2.8 GW, up 136% from last year. Tenders to add rooftop solar in government buildings in the country accounted for 43% of the total tendered capacity.
In the last quarter of 2024, the country added 1.3 GW of rooftop solar capacity ,
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