“Since 2016, 3 projects have brought reliable power to 140 million in India, laying more than 4,300 km of power lines and rolling out smart meters and digitized billing. Half of the country’s installed electricity capacity now comes from renewables, hydro and nuclear,” notes a historian.
India is boasting about this supposed green energy milestone.
But “fossil fuels still accounted for over two-thirds of the increase in power generation last year,” reports Reuters.
And 71% of India’s power output comes from coal, compared to 74% in 2024. So the vast majority of the electricity actually used in India still comes from fossil fuels. That’s because the capacity to produce energy doesn’t necessarily mean that energy will be produced, much less used. Some “generation capacity goes unused” for renewable energy, due to “changing wind or sun conditions“, or “excess electricity” being produced during peak periods of sunshine or high wind.
But India touts the illusory green energy as its compliance with an international climate-change agreement.
Reuters reports:
India said on Monday it has achieved 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources — five years ahead of its 2030 target under the Paris Agreement, signalling accelerating momentum in the country’s clean energy transition.
The announcement comes as India’s renewable power output rose at its fastest pace since 2022 in the first half of 2025, while coal-fired generation declined nearly 3%.
Fossil fuels still accounted for over two-thirds of the increase in power generation last year. India plans to expand coal-fired capacity by 80 GW by 2032 to meet rising demand.
The country had missed its 2022 renewable target of 175 GW, but ramped up solar and wind additions since then. India now targets 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 – including hydro and nuclear.
The government is also pushing for battery storage, circularity in solar and wind components, and green hydrogen to deepen decarbonization.
The country added nearly 28 GW of solar and wind in 2024 and has already added 16.3 GW of wind and solar capacity in the five months through May, government data showed.
Perhaps India could add some geothermal energy to its mix. Geothermal energy could expand significantly due to fracking techniques, just as oil and gas production in the U.S. rose to record levels after fracking techniques were perfected. That would reduce the need to rely on fossil fuels, wind, and solar power (which would be good, because fossil fuels lead to global warming, wind energy kills many birds, and solar farms generate lots of toxic waste. A Google-owned solar farm incinerates a thousand birds every year).
