Bharat Renewable Energy Summit & Expo 2026 Highlights India's Clean Energy Progress
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy reported significant achievements in India's renewable energy sector during the Bharat Renewable Energy Summit & Expo 2026. Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi announced that the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has transformed into a mass movement, with India completing approximately 100,000 rooftop solar installations every six days. This initiative is reducing emissions and strengthening energy security during peak hours, while millions of households are achieving zero electricity bills and generating substantial collective income by selling surplus power back to the grid.
India's solar energy capacity has experienced exponential growth, increasing from just 3 GW in 2014 to 172 GW currently. The solar manufacturing sector has expanded significantly, with module manufacturing capacity crossing 200 GW and solar cell manufacturing reaching approximately 45 GW. The country is also advancing wind energy manufacturing, with domestic capabilities now covering a significant share of the turbine value chain.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission was highlighted as a key pillar of India's energy transition, targeting 5 million tonnes of annual green hydrogen production capacity by 2030. The 4th International Conference on Green Hydrogen examined electrolyzer manufacturing, hydrogen in mobility, fuel cell technologies, and sustainable aviation fuels.
International collaboration formed a major focus of the summit, with five country partners (Norway, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, and France) deepening bilateral clean energy ties across hydrogen, offshore wind, and financing. The Next Terawatt Diplomatic Dialogue emphasized that the next terawatt of clean energy will require collective collaboration across countries, technologies, and institutions.
The summit featured multiple technical sessions including a Wind Plenary examining India's onshore and offshore wind trajectory, a battery storage plenary focused on building domestic giga-scale manufacturing capacity, and an RE for AI plenary exploring how machine intelligence can strengthen grid forecasting and energy security. A dedicated policy session on women in renewable energy addressed improving gender participation across the sector.
A new tool called RTSE Vendor Buddy was launched, developed by C-STEP with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies in association with MNRE. The platform helps rooftop solar vendors assess roof layouts, design 3D solar systems, and generate technical drawings and bills of materials in a single workflow.
As renewable energy capacity expands, energy storage and transmission infrastructure are becoming central to grid stability and reliable integration of variable renewable power. The summit brought together technology providers, developers, and industry stakeholders to advance discussions on battery energy storage systems, pumped storage, and grid modernization.