With its compelling business case, the solar story of India is maximizing the falling renewable technology costs as the key to future energy decarbonization.

The nation has realized that it is cheaper to develop and operate solar farms than to operate existing power plants. Renewable energy has significant environmental benefits, which makes it the most significant driver to help us meet our energy reduction targets.

Energy consumption is only likely to rise. Therefore the adoption of forms of energy is the ideal way forward to deal with the balance between economic growth and sustainable environment, with India becoming a developing market.

Indian Power Market

India is overdetermined by coal-based thermal power. Approximately 52 percent of the electricity is generated through coal. The rest is made through hydro (25 percent ), gasoline (10 percent ), renewable (9 percent ), atomic (3 percent ), and oil (1% percent).

The country faces a shortage of electricity, as 450 million (70 percent ) Indians are involved with agriculture and reside in 80,000 villages that are not connected to the grid. It requires 500MW of electricity a week to maintain 8% GDP growth. It is, hence, capitalizing on solar energy to decrease its dependence.

Solar power generation is an industry that is growing by leaps and bounds in India. The solar installed power in the nation at the end of Q3 CY 2018 clocked to 26 GW, which was a 53 percent increase compared to 17 GW of installing as of Q3 CY 2017. Initially, the National Solar Mission of India's government had set a goal of attaining 20 GW solar power by 2022. India achieved this aim in a phenomenally short period, which is four years ahead of schedule by the dedicated measures undertaken by the authorities to make it to the goal.

India is the most economical manufacturer of solar energy. It isn't a coincidence but a success story of a successful public-private partnership (PPP) model. The sector's growth can be accredited to the following:

Role of Government:
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) are specialized bodies formed by the Government of India to increase the adoption of solar energy countrywide. The journey of the nation to become the 5th largest solar installer in the world was made possible by setting aggressive goals and implementation of policies through streamlined efforts.

Incentives and Policies:
The rewards and incentives proffered by the Government and Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) since 2010 are conducive to the adoption of solar energy. The segments which have seen rapid growth would be open access farms coupled with an increase of rooftop solar panels and the utility-scale.

Land Certainty:
Due to the climatic condition of India using 240-300 cloudless days in a calendar year, field availability for solar production is comfortably located. Draught prone zones in India are arid with higher radiation and are ideal for setting up large solar parks.

Low Cost of Labour:
India has the cheapest cost of labor, allowing the solar businesses to use a high amount of individuals resulting in speedy project completion at the lowest price. Construction of a solar plant requires only a 20-30% high skilled workforce, and the remainder is semi-skilled or unskilled labor, readily available and at affordable costs.

Price Sensitivity:
For any industry to make a footprint, price is a key index, and it's no secret that India is an extremely price-sensitive marketplace. In spite of the challenges, such as the absence of stable policies & uniform cost of capital, the solar market in India is the cheapest producer of power.

In the coming years, energy storage and solar photovoltaic power plant in India will play a key role in making renewable energy a source of power, which will further be reducing the landed cost of renewable electricity.