Saatvik Green Energy Acquires 80% Stake in Transformer Manufacturer

MERC Rejects Avaada’s ₹477 Million Change-in-Law Compensation Claim

CleanCapital Sells 120 MW Solar Project in Ohio

MERC Approves Tariffs for 8 MW Round-the-Clock Renewable Energy

EMERAM Acquires Stake in Home Energy Management Firm Solar Manager

Maharashtra Forms Panel to Review Electricity Duty on Rooftop Solar

Sterling and Wilson’s Revenue Drops 23% but Profit Surges in Q4 FY 2026

Adani Green Energy Operationalizes 292 MW Solar Project in Gujarat

EIE Renewables to Acquire 150 MWh Battery Storage Project in Bihar

MERC Approves 60 MW Wind-Solar PPA Withdrawal, Citing High Tariff

<table id="amazon-polly-audio-table">
						<tr>
						<td id="amazon-polly-audio-tab">
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-label">Listen to this article</div>
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-container">
			<audio class="amazon-ai-player" id="amazon-ai-player" preload="none" controls controlsList="nodownload" >
				<source type="audio/mpeg" src="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/amazon_polly_61774.mp3?version=1704170701">
			</audio>
		</div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-subscribe-tab"></div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-by-tab"></div>
						</td>
						</tr>
					</table>The cumulative utility-scale solar installations in India stood at 59.1 GW at the end of September 2023, according to Mercom India&#8217;s latest available data.
The full-year installation numbers for 2023 will be released in February.
Here is a look at India&#8217;s top five states for utility-scale solar installations.
As of September 2023, Rajasthan&#8217;s total utility-scale solar installations represented 28.2% of the country&#8217;s total installations.
With the advantage of high irradiation, Rajasthan has held on to its lead. The state, however, saw a dip in installations during the year, mainly due to project delays in the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) region.
Utility-scale solar installations dropped 78.9% YoY in the first nine months (9M) of the calendar year (CY) 2023.
Solar Energy Corporation of India&#8217;s projects under the Central Public Sector Undertaking program, inter-state transmission system-connected solar projects, and Kerala State Electricity Board&#8217;s project in Bikaner contributed to the solar additions in Rajasthan during the year.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61777" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-1.jpg" alt="Utility scale 1" width="1667" height="250" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-1.jpg 1667w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-1-300x45.jpg 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-1-768x115.jpg 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-1-1536x230.jpg 1536w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-1-650x97.jpg 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-1-624x94.jpg 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-1-600x90.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1667px) 100vw, 1667px" />
Karnataka had the country&#8217;s second-largest operational utility-scale solar project portfolio with 15.8%. The state witnessed significant capacity additions during the first and the third quarter of 2023.
During 9M 2023, the installations in the state dropped 7.1% YoY.
Most of the installations in the state came from open-access projects, benefiting from favorable policies, accessible transmission infrastructure, and a lower cost of open access power compared to the retail power tariff.
In Q3 2023, Karnataka had the second-highest capacity additions in the country. Notably, open-access solar projects constituted 66.2% of the total installations in the state during the quarter.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61778" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-2.jpg" alt="Utility scale 2" width="1667" height="250" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-2.jpg 1667w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-2-300x45.jpg 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-2-768x115.jpg 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-2-1536x230.jpg 1536w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-2-650x97.jpg 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-2-624x94.jpg 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-2-600x90.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1667px) 100vw, 1667px" />
Gujarat&#8216;s contribution to the country&#8217;s overall operational utility-scale solar capacity was 10.8% at the end of Q3 2023.
The state installed 1.15 GW of utility-scale solar capacity in 9M 2023.
In the July to September period, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation&#8217;s projects contributed significantly, accounting for 41.7% of the total installed capacity in the quarter.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61779" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-3.jpg" alt="Utility scale 3" width="1667" height="250" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-3.jpg 1667w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-3-300x45.jpg 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-3-768x115.jpg 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-3-1536x230.jpg 1536w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-3-650x97.jpg 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-3-624x94.jpg 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-3-600x90.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1667px) 100vw, 1667px" />
Tamil Nadu was fourth among states with an installed utility-scale solar capacity, representing 8.7% of the country&#8217;s installations. However, the installations in 9M 2023 dropped by 15.7% YoY.
After the hike in retail tariff in 2022, the state has witnessed rapid solar adoption from consumers keen on reducing their operating costs. Most of the installations were fuelled by open access projects in the state, which constituted a substantial 82.7% of the total installations during the second quarter alone.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61780" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-4.jpg" alt="Utility scale 4" width="1667" height="250" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-4.jpg 1667w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-4-300x45.jpg 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-4-768x115.jpg 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-4-1536x230.jpg 1536w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-4-650x97.jpg 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-4-624x94.jpg 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-4-600x90.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1667px) 100vw, 1667px" />
The fifth state was Andhra Pradesh, with 4.4 GW, representing 7.5% of the country&#8217;s installations.
The state experienced a major slump during 9M 2023, installing just 14.98 MW, an 88.2% YoY drop.
The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission has <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/andhra-pradesh-renewable-purchase-obligation-2026-27" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the renewable power purchase obligation targets until the financial year (FY) 2026-27. The RPPO targets are 18% for FY 2022-23, 19% for FY 2023-24, 20% for FY 2024-25, 22% for FY 2025-26, and 24% for FY 2026-27, which is expected to drive the state DISCOMs to procure more solar power.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61781" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-5.jpg" alt="Utility scale 5" width="1667" height="250" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-5.jpg 1667w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-5-300x45.jpg 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-5-768x115.jpg 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-5-1536x230.jpg 1536w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-5-650x97.jpg 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-5-624x94.jpg 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Utility-scale-5-600x90.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1667px) 100vw, 1667px" />

Top Five States for Utility-Scale Solar in 2023 [Infographics]

top-states

Get the most relevant India solar and clean energy news.

RECENT POSTS