At the CII Annual Business Summit 2026 in Delhi, the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Pralhad Joshi, said India’s clean energy transition is central to industrial competitiveness and long-term economic resilience. He said the drive towards 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity is laying the foundation for a globally competitive, innovation-driven and Aatmanirbharta energy ecosystem. The minister framed the shift as integral to trade positioning and future growth.

He said Aatmanirbharta now stands as a recognised framework for resilient, sustainable growth and pointed to India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative as an example of domestic capability supporting global responsibility. He noted that the Unified Payments Interface has set global benchmarks and that defence manufacturing exports such as BrahMos missiles signal growing technological self-reliance. He recalled recent appeals by the prime minister promoting more self-reliant ways of living and working.

The minister cited rapid capacity expansion and noted that India’s non-fossil fuel capacity rose from 81 GW in 2014 to 288 GW at present, representing growth of over 256 per cent. He said solar capacity increased from two point eight GW to 155 GW and wind capacity grew from 21 GW to 56.4 GW, while renewables supplied nearly one-third of the record peak demand of 256 GW. He added that even as global renewable investments fell by around seven per cent, India continued to attract robust investment.

He outlined policy measures intended to provide stability and boost domestic value addition, including Renewable Consumption Obligation trajectories, carbon credit certificate regulations, green ammonia procurement frameworks, a standardised warranty regime for solar PV modules, and the Renewable Energy Equipment Import Monitoring System alongside tax and duty reforms. The minister said the next phase requires closer integration of generation, storage and transmission and improved grid resilience, with green hydrogen, battery storage and pumped hydro among the priorities. He invited industry and investors to the Renewable Energy Investors Meet and said that with scale, speed, skill and Aatmanirbharta India will meet the 500 GW target by 2030.