India’s clean energy transition has entered a decisive new phase, with experts calling for a stronger focus on adoption, integration and implementation rather than capacity creation alone. Think Change Forum, a leading independent think tank based in New Delhi, in partnership with Delhi Research Implementation and Innovation (DRIIV), Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, as Knowledge Partner, organised a national seminar bringing together leading energy experts, policymakers, innovators, public-sector enterprises, industry leaders, financiers and clean energy stakeholders to examine how India can accelerate the adoption of new energy technologies.
The seminar, themed “New Energy: From Evaluation to Adoption,” focused on shifting the national conversation from building clean energy capacity to ensuring that this capacity can be reliably transmitted, stored, purchased and productively utilised. Discussions explored how India can convert its expanding clean energy base into greater energy security, affordability, industrial competitiveness and long-term resilience.
Speakers observed that India has established a strong foundation for its energy transition. As of 31 March 2026, the country had installed 283.46 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity, including 274.68 GW of renewable energy, making it the world’s third-largest market for installed renewable energy capacity. India also added a record 55.29 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity during the 2025–26 financial year.
However, experts stressed that installed capacity alone would not be sufficient to deliver the transition. They noted that the more challenging phase lies in integrating variable renewable energy into the grid, transmitting electricity efficiently from generation centres to consumers, establishing dependable procurement mechanisms and enabling industries, infrastructure, transport, buildings, households and public institutions to adopt cleaner energy at scale.
The scale of this challenge is already becoming apparent. Between April and June 2026, approximately 8,133 GWh of solar electricity was curtailed because of transmission constraints and grid security requirements. At the same time, the Central Electricity Authority estimates that India will require approximately 336 GWh of energy storage capacity by 2029–30 and 411 GWh by 2031–32 to reliably integrate renewable power while maintaining grid stability.
Delivering the opening keynote, Dr Ajay Mathur, Former Director General, International Solar Alliance and Former Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, said: “The real question is how we adopt clean energy technologies at scale, reliably and affordably. Our strategic focus must rest on five areas. First, energy efficiency, it remains the lowest-cost, most immediate lever we have. Second, shifting our sources of electricity, since solar and wind with storage are now cheaper than new coal power, which means our focus must turn to land, transmission and capital for these plants. Third, enhancing electrification, of cooking, of mobility, to reduce our dependence on imported oil. Fourth, providing realistic decarbonisation pathways for legacy, energy-intensive sectors like cement, steel and fertilisers, where green hydrogen can play a critical role. And fifth, as we move from evaluation to adoption, new technologies will keep emerging that need that same evaluation. India’s new energy future will be shaped not only by the technologies we develop, but by how effectively these are adopted, financed, and scaled. This is where ambition needs execution.”
Throughout the discussions, experts emphasised that the next phase of India’s energy transition will depend not only on technological innovation and supportive public policy but also on financing, buyer confidence, procurement frameworks, transmission infrastructure, energy storage, flexible demand and commercially sustainable business models.
In his keynote address, Upendra Tripathy, Retd. IAS, Advisor (Climate Change) to Hon CM of Karnataka and Climate Ambassador of the State of Karnataka, Former Secretary MNRE, highlighted the need for practical and commercially viable pathways for decarbonising energy-intensive industries. He said, “This conversation is coming at the right time, given the range of challenges we’ve seen globally in recent times. These challenges are not uni-directional, they play out at every level, global, national, and state, and each requires its own solution. There is no single fix that works for all of them. What gives me confidence, though, is how much has already being figured out on the ground, and we now need to take it to execution and implementation.”
Addressing the broader ecosystem needed to support new energy adoption, A.K. Saxena, Senior Director, TERI, said, “New energy solutions have been emerging and will continue to emerge, driven both by technology push and by demand pull. But to reap the full benefit of any new technology, we need to examine it through a common set of lenses: policy, regulations, standards, workforce and capacity building, financing and business models. We have seen this play out before, with LEDs and with solar power. As a technology matures and scale builds in India, costs come down to a point where what looks expensive today becomes viable tomorrow.”
The seminar also explored the role of science, technology and institutional collaboration in accelerating clean energy adoption. Speakers agreed that promising technologies must move beyond pilot projects and demonstrations towards dependable, scalable and commercially viable deployment.
Dr Vishal Choudhary, Scientist F, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, said, “A major concern is breaking down silos. Only when research, academia, industry, startups and government come on a single platform can we close the gap between technology validation and industry adoption. One successful step in this direction has been the establishment of Science and Technology Clusters. These clusters don’t stop at identifying the problem; they’re expected to close the loop by delivering a solution that industry or local authorities can actually adopt and implement on the ground.”
Panellists examined practical approaches to improving grid and transmission efficiency, introducing cleaner industrial processes, strengthening smart energy management, meeting rising demand from data centres and creating commercially viable decarbonisation pathways for legacy industries.
A broad consensus emerged that India’s clean energy ambitions can only be realised through stronger coordination between policymakers, financiers, technology providers, power utilities, industrial users and institutional buyers. Experts argued that greater alignment between policy, finance, technology and market demand is essential to connect innovation with end users, while commercially bankable adoption models, supported by robust procurement mechanisms, risk-sharing frameworks and demonstration platforms, will be critical to scaling deployment.
Experts also stressed the importance of expanding transmission networks and energy storage in parallel with renewable generation capacity, while strengthening domestic manufacturing, research, skills and supply chains to reinforce India’s long-term energy resilience.
The seminar concluded that while the first phase of India’s clean energy transition was driven by ambitious targets and rapid capacity expansion, the next phase must be defined by integration, adoption and productive utilisation. India’s 283.46 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity represents a landmark achievement, speakers agreed, but its full economic, environmental and strategic value will only be realised when clean power can be reliably delivered, purchased and adopted across every sector of the economy.
