According to Moody's Ratings, India is projected to require a substantial investment of up to $385 billion to achieve its renewable energy target of 500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. However, coal is anticipated to maintain its prominence in electricity generation for the next decade.
India, a significant greenhouse gas emitter, has set ambitious goals to increase non-fossil fuel capacity by 50 GW annually, aiming to reach the 500 GW target by 2030. Moody's estimates suggest an annual addition of around 44 GW will be instrumental in meeting this objective.
“For that, India will have to spend $190 billion to $215 billion on capacity over the next six to seven years and another $150 billion to $170 billion for transmission and distribution,” Moody's stated.
Despite the growing share of renewable energy, which has reached approximately 43% of the power capacity mix in fiscal 2023-24, coal is expected to continue playing a significant role in electricity generation for the next eight to ten years.
“We expect India to add 40GW-50GW of coal-based capacity over the next five to six years to help meet power demand, which is likely to grow by 5%-6% annually over this period,” Moody's noted.
While private sector investments, such as those from the Adani Group's Adani Green Energy, are bolstering India's renewable energy ambitions, continued policy support is deemed crucial for achieving significant progress towards the country's transition goals.
“Continued policy backing will facilitate significant progress toward India's 2030 transition and 2070 net-zero targets,” Moody's highlighted.
