New Delhi: India’s growing renewable energy capacity could help the country save nearly $240 billion in cumulative coal and natural gas import expenditure by 2030, strengthening energy security and reducing its exposure to fluctuations in international fuel prices, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), ANI reported.
The annual savings from renewable power replacing imported fossil fuels are projected to reach around $35 billion by 2030. This would exceed India’s actual import expenditure on non-coking coal and natural gas in the financial year 2024-25, the agency said in its India Renewable Energy Market Report 2026.
The IEA noted that renewable electricity generation had already helped India reduce cumulative spending on coal and natural gas imports by more than $100 billion between 2011 and 2025.
Assuming fuel prices remain broadly in line with the average levels recorded during 2024 and 2025, the cumulative savings could approach $240 billion by 2030, the report said.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) power is expected to contribute the largest share of the projected savings, accounting for approximately 60% of the total. Wind power is likely to contribute nearly 30%.
The expansion of renewable energy has also reduced India’s reliance on imported coal. According to the IEA, coal imports in 2025 would have been around 110 million tonnes higher if the solar PV, wind and bioenergy capacity added since 2010 had not been developed.
The agency added that, without this renewable capacity, the import dependence of electricity generation would have exceeded 30%, approximately twice the actual level.
India’s renewable power capacity is projected to reach around 530 GW by 2030, with solar PV accounting for more than 350 GW. Wind power capacity is expected to approach 90 GW, while hydropower capacity could reach 75 GW.
Renewable energy is also projected to contribute 35% of India’s total electricity generation by 2030, with output nearing 950 terawatt-hours (TWh), almost twice the current level.
However, the IEA emphasised that further investment in transmission networks, energy storage and power system flexibility would be essential to accommodate the increasing share of variable renewable energy.
Such infrastructure and flexibility measures would be particularly important during supply disruptions and periods of sharp price increases in fossil fuel markets, the report said, according to ANI.
