India's stalled renewable energy capacity has more than doubled in nine months, as reported by Reuters, citing a letter to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy from India's Sustainable Projects Developers Association (SPDA).
The increase is reported to have been caused by incomplete transmission infrastructure and legal hurdles.
The SPDA highlighted in the letter that tendered projects yet to enter power purchase agreements have soared to more than 50GW, up from 20GW of stranded projects reported in a letter dated 4 October 2024.
Companies including JSW, NTPC, Adani Green and ACME Solar are among those with billions of dollars in awarded projects now facing delays.
The SPDA letter states: "Energy transition is not just about building solar and wind capacity, it is also about ensuring that clean power reaches in a most optimum cost and timely manner."
A spokesperson for India's power ministry told Reuters that renewable projects totalling 44GW had been awarded generation licences by federal agencies but lacked supply agreements.
However, details regarding the duration of the delays or scale of the rise in stalled projects were not provided.
The SPDA pointed out that delays in critical transmission infrastructure, particularly in states including Rajasthan and Gujarat, have led to solar plants missing commissioning deadlines.
To address these issues, interstate transmission lines are being fast-tracked, and compensation for landowners has been increased to support construction.
India aims to connect 230GW of renewable energy projects to the grid through interstate transmission lines.
20% of these connections are currently complete, 70% are under construction and the remaining are in the bidding process. The timeline for completion, however, remains unspecified.
The letter also noted that renewable projects are being hampered by legal issues over land and environmental permissions, with multiple developers suspending operations due to unresolved court cases.
In July 2025, Zelestra commenced full commercial operations at its 435 megawatts direct current Gorbea solar project in Rajasthan, India.
