India's commercial and industrial renewable energy capacity is projected to reach 57 gigawatt (GW) by FY28, up from about 40 GW expected by the end of FY26 and representing a 17 GW increase in two years as corporate decarbonisation and tariff arbitrage spur demand. Crisil Ratings projects that favourable long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) tariffs versus grid supply, corporate net-zero commitments and renewable purchase obligations will underpin growth. The agency adds that attractive developer returns and strong counterparty credit profiles support the expansion.

The Green Energy Open Access (GEOA) Rules, 2022 have allowed industries and commercial establishments to source renewable power directly using existing transmission and distribution infrastructure, accelerating uptake. Crisil Ratings notes that several industrial states have announced open access policies and that intra-state rebates on cross-subsidy, wheeling and state transmission utility charges can lower landed power costs by 25-30 per cent compared with on-grid tariffs. These incentives have materially improved project economics for corporate buyers.

Energy-intensive sectors such as steel, cement and data centres are early adopters as they align with internal net-zero targets and RPO compliance. Private equity backed developers are expected to lead incremental additions because C&I projects offer higher return on equity than utility scale plants and benefit from better tariffs and stronger counterparties. Crisil Ratings reports an average PPA tenure of 15 years, about 65 per cent of rated capacity tied to high safety counterparties and a weighted average debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) of one point four times over the next two fiscals.

Infrastructure constraints and policy continuity remain risks, with limited intra-state transmission capacity and right-of-way issues affecting timelines. States face a trade-off since open access incentives can reduce distribution utilities' revenues from high paying C&I users and any withdrawal of incentives could push up landed power costs, though tariffs should remain competitive against grid supply. With India targeting 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, the C&I segment is a central pillar in meeting clean energy goals while offering stable returns to developers and cost savings to corporates.