The government will soon announce a utility-led program under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana to enable households without suitable rooftop space to benefit from the program, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said. He was speaking before presenting the Mercom India Awards at the Mercom India Renewables Summit 2025. Joshi said 1.72 million rooftop solar systems have been installed under the PM Surya Ghar program as of date.

India has set a target of 1,800 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2047, said Sudeep Jain, Additional Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, at the Mercom India Renewables Summit 2025. India had hit the target of 50% non-fossil fuel-based power capacity by 2030, five years in advance. However, India would require 1,800 GW to 2,000 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2047 to support its growing demand, he said.

Total global corporate funding for the solar sector dropped by 39% year-over-year (YoY) to $10.8 billion in the first half (1H) of 2025 from $17.6 billion, according to Mercom India’s 1H and Q2 2025 Solar Funding and M&A Report. The number of deals also decreased by 11% to 78 deals from 88 during the same period last year.

Solar project developers fear a significant drop in capacity additions among Maharashtra’s prosumers because of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (MERC) proposal to impose energy banking restrictions. The MERC tariff order has come under severe criticism from solar project developers as the energy banking rules can effectively reduce the savings generated from a solar project and disincentivize solar adoption for the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company consumers.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has directed a phased implementation of market coupling across power exchanges, starting with the day-ahead market (DAM) coupling by January 2026. The DAM coupling will be executed in round-robin mode, with the role of market coupling operator (MCO) rotating among the three operational power exchanges—Indian Energy Exchange, Power Exchange India, and Hindustan Power Exchange. Grid-India will serve as the fourth MCO for audit and backup purposes.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has exempted government projects mandated to use solar modules from the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM -List-I) from complying with ALMM List-II for solar cells, if the bid submission deadline is on or before the cut-off date. The cut-off date will be one month after the publication of the first ALMM List for cells.

MNRE has amended the ‘incentive to local bodies’ component of the Implementation Guidelines under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. The National Programme Implementation Agency will disburse funds to the State Implementation Agencies according to the number of rooftop solar installations undertaken in their respective areas under the program.

MNRE has amended the guidelines for implementing the Model Solar Village under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. This amendment focuses on eligibility and selection processes to ensure more practical and inclusive execution. The ministry issued operational guidelines to set up one model solar village in every district of the country last August.

The Delhi Government has notified the first amendment to the Delhi Solar Energy Policy 2023, increasing the state capital subsidy for residential rooftop solar systems. The revised subsidy now stands at ₹10,000 (~$116.28)/kW, capped at ₹30,000 (~$348.84) for systems with a capacity of up to 3 kW. In the draft Delhi Solar Energy Policy, 2023, the Delhi government offered a state capital subsidy of ₹2,000 (~$23.26)/kW with a cap of ₹10,000 (~$116.28)/consumer.

The MNRE has mandated that all original equipment manufacturers enlisted for the supply of inverters under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana integrate inverter communication devices with the PM Surya Ghar portal. The inverters must also be connected to software managed by the MNRE or any other agency designated by it.

The MNRE has clarified that behind-the-meter projects for captive consumption by government entities or public sector enterprises must use solar modules from the ALMM. However, these projects are exempt from using ALMM-compliant cells if they were commissioned before June 1, 2026.

The MNRE has issued amendments to the guidelines for implementing the CFA under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. Under the amendments, the state or union territory government can supplement the CFA provided by the central government with an additional subsidy for rooftop systems.

The Central Electricity Authority has proposed the installation of one automatic weather station for each renewable energy project with a capacity of 50 MW. The proposal is in the context of the need for real-time weather measurement to optimize renewable energy generation, as solar and wind generation depend on weather conditions.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has clarified that solar projects installed exclusively to charge energy storage systems (ESS) will not be exempted from complying with the requirements under ALMM. If a solar project is feeding power or charging an ESS, which is directly or indirectly supplying electricity to the grid, then such solar projects do not fall under the category of behind-the-meter projects solely used for captive consumption.

The MNRE has approved the release of ₹679.5 million (~$7.8 million) as the first tranche of central financial assistance to four Hydrogen Valley Innovation Clusters under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. A hydrogen valley is a specific geographical region where hydrogen is utilized for multiple applications across various sectors, including industry, energy, and mobility.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries has issued a notification for the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement program, offering demand incentives for electric trucks (e-trucks). Incentives will be disbursed to N2–trucks with a gross vehicle weight of more than 3.5 tons but not exceeding 12 tons and N3–trucks with a GVW exceeding 12 tons but under 55 tons.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has amended the disbursal pattern of financial assistance for compressed biogas (CBG) projects to procure biomass aggregation machinery. According to the amendments, CBG plants utilizing more than 50% biomass as feedstock for a two-ton per day capacity project are eligible for a financial support of ₹9 million (~$104,970).

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has amended the Phased Manufacturing Programme for the electric vehicle public charging stations component of the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) program. According to MHI’s revised guidelines, domestic manufacturing of charger enclosures or panels, internal wiring harnesses, and IS/IEC 60309 connectors must have commenced by December 1, 2021.

The Multi Commodity Exchange of India, a commodity derivatives and options exchange, will launch electricity futures contracts from July 10, 2025, enabling power producers, distributors, and large power consumers to manage risks associated with price volatility. The exchange had received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India in June to launch electricity derivatives.