The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has called for strengthening its role, considering the rapidly expanding scale and strategic importance of renewables, to give greater institutional clarity for effective administration.

The Ministry told a parliamentary standing committee that enacting a separate Renewable Energy Act may not be necessary, as electricity generated from renewables is integrated into the grid and governed by the Electricity Act, 2003. However, in all respects pertaining to renewable energy, the MNRE must be considered as ‘Central Government,’ it said.

The MNRE’s stance seeks to define a distinctive role for itself vis-à-vis the Ministry of Power (MoP), which enjoys exclusive authority over the Electricity Act’s provisions. It signals a push for clearer separation of powers and responsibilities between the MNRE and the MoP.

The parliamentary committee sought the MNRE’s views on requests it had received from stakeholders regarding the need for a separate Renewable Energy Act, given the expanding renewable energy sector in India.

Policy, Planning, and Market Design

The MNRE proposed that it be granted greater authority over renewable energy planning, electricity market design, tariff principles, and policy implementation. The Ministry has also suggested that it be given a central role in monitoring renewable purchase obligations/renewable consumption obligations, guiding regulators such as the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and the National Committee on Transmission, and overseeing national energy transition planning.

The MNRE also wanted the power to frame and amend rules under Section 176 of the Electricity Act related to renewable energy. It said there was also a need to bring flexibility and storage resources into the renewable energy framework, and that all regulatory bodies and technical institutions must have representatives from the renewable energy sector at both the central and state levels.

The standing committee queried the MNRE about the anomalous situation in which large hydroelectric projects were included in renewable energy targets, even though the sector was administered by the MoP.

In response, the MNRE said that a unified administrative structure under MNRE for all renewable sources, including large hydro, would enable integrated policy formulation, holistic renewable energy planning, sectoral synergy across all renewable energy technologies, and improved coordination to achieve national renewable energy and net-zero goals.

Endorsing MNRE’s stand, the standing committee observed, “The Committee is of the view that being the nodal Ministry of the Government of India for all matters relating to renewable energy resources, MNRE should have more powers and authority to administer the planning, execution and evaluation of renewable energy projects so as to sustain India’s renewable energy transition.”

In the past, the MNRE and the MoP were both headed by the same Cabinet-rank Minister. In 2024, however, Pralhad Joshi was assigned the MNRE, while Manohar Lal was made in charge of the MoP. The move was seen as the government’s acknowledgement of the growing importance of renewables in India’s electricity sector.

Since then, Joshi has spearheaded several programs to push renewable energy adoption, including the government’s flagship rooftop solar program, the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, which aims to install rooftop systems on 10 million households by 2027. At last count, 3 million households across India had solar panels installed on their roofs.

Among other achievements, India has secured the third position globally behind China and the U.S. in solar installations. As of December 2025, India’s cumulative installed solar capacity stood at nearly 136 GW, according to Mercom’s Q4 and Annual 2025 Solar Market Update.