India will add 3,790 MW of solar power capacity by March 31, 2016 to take the total installed capacity in India to 9,038 MW, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy said.
Giving a status report on the implementation of various schemes to achieve the target of 100,000 MW solar capacity by 2022, the Ministry stated that till January 31 a total of 5,248.21 MW has been installed. The maximum capacity of 1,264 MW is installed in Rajasthan while Gujarat comes in second place with 1,024 MW.
Of the new capacity that will be added by the end of this fiscal, 322 MW will be added in Rajasthan, 281 MW will be added in Telangana and 276 MW will be added in Tamil Nadu.
The report further said that till January 1, tenders have been prepared to add 15,177 MW of solar capacity in 2016-17. By the end of the current fiscal, tenders for another 4,431 MW of projects will also be ready.
Out of the capacity for which tendering will be done, the Ministry expects 12,161 MW to be added in the next fiscal.
If the projects fructify, India’s solar power generation capacity will stand at 21,199 MW by April 1, 2017.
“In calendar year 2016, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka will contribute to almost 80 per cent of all new capacity addition. With a strong pipeline of state level projects to be commissioned through 2016 and a significant capacity addition expected through central government allocations in the first quarter of 2017, the utility scale solar market also seems to be on track to meet the targets for the next financial year,” solar power consultancy firm Bridge to India said in a recent report.