Budgeting for Net Zero: Powering India's reliable clean energy future
Published 9 December 2025
India needs clean, reliable, affordable power. This study assesses the cost competitiveness of firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE)—solar, wind, and storage systems delivering 24/7 clean energy.
Ensuring 24-7 power from FDRE requires developers to oversize the amount of solar and wind, resulting in surplus power generation. Selling 50% of surplus makes FDRE cheaper than new coal by 2030, selling 30% delays parity to 2048, and selling 100% (optimistic scenario) makes FDRE already cheaper.
FDRE raises GDP by 0.5% in 2032, 1% by 2038, and 1.8% by 2050 on an annual basis and creates 64,000 net jobs by 2050 (after accounting for coal job losses), compared to our baseline scenario (no FDRE). Gains come from lower air pollution, higher productivity, and investment in clean energy.
Including mortality, morbidity, and carbon costs raises coal’s price from INR 4.65/kWh to INR 13.19/kWh, making FDRE competitive in all scenarios. This shows the need for current power procurement frameworks to reflect pollution and climate costs in pricing.
Coal-based power plants take 5–7 years to commission, while FDRE projects can be built in 2–2.5 years, even with storage included. Long lead times for coal increase cost uncertainty, fuel supply risks, fixed capacity charges, and expose discoms to stranded-asset risks as renewables become cheaper.
