Big success! India has done remarkably in solar power capacity addition. Here’s how to take it to the next level

The total solar power capacity is now already 20,000 MW. What is remarkable is that this has been done through private investment and without large government subsidies. A competitive tariff-based bidding process every year for buying solar power from multiple firms through long-term contracts has been the instrument used by the Mission from the beginning. This created a competitive industry structure. Facilitated by the reduction in manufacturing costs globally of solar panels, the decline in tariffs has been amazing. Tariff in one recent bid came down to below `2.5 per unit, whereas that approved by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission for solar power was about `17 per unit when the Mission was launched.