To showcase India’s journey in renewable energy, the Union ministry of power presented its tableau ‘Prakash Ganga: Powering an Aatmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat’ at the Republic Day parade on January 26.
The tableau highlighted “India’s evolution from achieving universal electricity access to emerging as a global clean energy leader, reinforcing the nation’s commitment to building a self-reliant and developed India,” a release from the Union power ministry said.
Apart from setting up highly ambitious solar targets domestically, in 2015, India, along with France, took initiative to set up the International Solar Alliance (ISA), which has played a pivotal role in enhancing solar power globally during the last decade.
The theme ‘Prakash Ganga’, which means “River of Light”, “symbolises the seamless and continuous flow of power across the interconnected national grid”, the release adds.
Smart power
The tableau highlighted several aspects of India’s power story, especially its achievements with renewable energy.
Prominent features of the front section of the tableau were a robotic Smart Meter model with wind turbine generators, “reflecting the integration of digital technologies, automation, and smart solutions for efficient power management”, the power ministry said.
The central section featured the idea of the “Smart Power, Smarter Home”, with rooftop solar installations, “highlighting the government’s vision of empowering citizens as ‘prosumers’: both producers and consumers of electricity”. Three people, two men and a woman, sat in front of a house.
Green transport
Other installations depicted a transmission structure representing last-mile connectivity, an electric vehicle (EV) charging station and an electric scooter, to show how the power sector is enabling “clean mobility and a sustainable transport ecosystem”.
The rear segment showcased India’s hydroelectric, wind and geothermal power installations. An installation titled ‘Switching on India’ represented “advanced control and monitoring centres that ensure grid stability and uninterrupted electricity supply”. The tableau was mounted on a structure resembling coiled electrical cables, to symbolise “the scale and resilience of India’s national power grid”.
Question remains
Though India has made considerable progress in the renewable energy sector in the past few years, especially in the field of solar energy, experts point out that the flow of renewables into the grid falls short of the desired level.
According to official figures, India’s solar installed capacity has shot up to about 130 GW in 2025, up from 3 GW in 2014. Solar energy now contributes more than 20% to installed capacity, with non-renewable sources still contributing to more than half of India’s installed capacity.
However recent studies have shown that India still depends on coal, on ground, as the generation of solar power is still far less in comparison as the plant load factor of solar plants, generally, are in the range of 20 per cent while the same of the thermal plants ranges 80 per cent or more; hinting towards a credibility crisis of the former.
Storage is gamechanger
Experts have raised questions on solar power’s installation versus generation gap, pointing out that unless the country makes a significant stride in storage of solar power, the disparity will continue. It has been pointed out that due to its nature, solar energy production is limited to sunny hours of the day and India has not yet developed enough storage capacity to continue its feeds through the dark hours.
“India targets 500 GW non-fossil installation capacities by 2030, including 300 GW solar. While achieving these capacities looks hopeful, the actual energy yield is limited by storage deficits, extending coal reliance beyond 2047,” points out SP Gon Choudhury, solar energy expert and an advisor to the Union and West Bengal governments.
“Integrating mega-storage is essential, and may be a gamechanger, to transform intermittent generation into dispatchable base-load, ensuring a sustainable transition from thermal power,” he adds.
Another grey area is the future of solar waste in the country as the government has not yet released any detailed major plan to counter the toxic menace. A BBC report says that the waste can rise to 6,00,000 tonnes by 2030 in the country.