India’s utility-scale solar sector has a visible project pipeline of about 2.5 years, supported by a strong pipeline of awarded projects, according to a report by Equirus Securities.
Between FY18 and FY26, developers secured letters of award (LoAs) for 174 GW of utility-scale solar projects. Of this, 118 GW has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) and 60 GW has been commissioned, leaving 58 GW in the project pipeline.
The report estimates that of the solar capacity awaiting PPAs, around 73% (around 42 GW) falls under plain vanilla solar and hybrid tenders, where signing probability remains low as distribution companies (DISCOMs) increasingly prioritize firm power supply during both solar and non-solar hours. The remaining 15 GW comprises round-the-clock (RTC), firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE), and solar-plus-battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, where PPA signing probability is significantly higher.
The report noted that new tenders are shifting decisively toward firm power formats, with focus on BESS and FDRE/RTC structures, adding that integrated independent power producers (IPPs) with storage and firm supply capabilities are the structural winners.
The report said data centres, green hydrogen and night-time connectivity could add 15-20 GW of incremental solar demand annually from FY29, demand that is not reflected in CEA forecasts or analyst models. As a result, annual solar installations could rise from around 50 GW in FY27 to nearly 85 GW by FY30.
The report also noted that more than 300 data centre projects are planned across India, with major investments announced by AWS, Microsoft and Google, while AI inference requires 24×7 firm power, making Solar+BESS the most cost-effective solution at scale. According to the report, each 100 MW data centre would require around 250 MW of solar, 150 MW of wind and nearly 450 MWh of battery energy storage to operate entirely on renewable power.
On green hydrogen, the report highlighted India’s 5 million tonne annual production target by 2030 under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, estimating that each one million tonne of hydrogen production would require about 20 GW of dedicated solar capacity.
The report projects India’s BESS demand to increase from 34.7 GWh during 2022-27 to 236.2 GWh during 2027-32, driven by renewable energy integration, grid stability requirements and policy support through storage mandates.
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