REconnect Summit 2026, Lucknow, Highlights Uttar Pradesh’s Growing Role in India’s Energy Transition

India has rapidly expanded its renewable energy capacity, reaching around 270 GW, led mainly by solar power growth over the last decade. However, renewable energy still meets only a small share of the country’s total final energy demand, highlighting the scale of transition required.

In Uttar Pradesh, renewable energy, especially solar, is growing across utility-scale and rooftop segments, but the state’s contribution remains below its potential due to land, regulatory, and DISCOM-related constraints.

In this context, Energetica India organised the second edition of the RE Connect Summit 2026 in Lucknow under the theme, ‘Building North India’s Solar Base: Uttar Pradesh Takes Centre Stage’, aiming to position the state as a key hub for solar power, energy storage, and emerging technologies such as green hydrogen and floating solar. The summit brought together policymakers, industry leaders, project developers, and solution providers to deliberate on the state’s expanding clean energy ecosystem.

Welcoming the participants, Hemant Arora, Director, Energetica India, said that Uttar Pradesh is steadily increasing its solar capacity across both utility-scale and rooftop segments. He noted that the state government, industry stakeholders, and project developers are working jointly to scale solar adoption and strengthen local manufacturing. Several companies have already set up manufacturing facilities in the state, contributing to domestic production and supply chains.

He added that Uttar Pradesh is also supporting the adoption of energy storage systems and EV charging infrastructure to meet rising electricity demand and improve grid reliability. Lucknow, he said, provides a suitable platform for dialogue among policymakers, industry leaders, and technology providers on solar energy, storage, electric mobility, and decentralised renewable energy solutions.

Arora also stated that Uttar Pradesh has maintained a revenue surplus while allocating nearly INR 65,000 crore for its energy sector, marking an increase of about eight per cent. The allocation includes enhanced funding for alternative energy, with a target of adding around 2 GW of capacity, with a strong focus on solar projects in regions such as Bundelkhand, Ayodhya, and Mathura.

Further, in his address, Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, Former DG, Electric Power Transmission Association (EPTA), and Former Secretary, MNRE, Government of India, said that the energy sector accounts for nearly 75 per cent of India’s total greenhouse gas emissions, making renewable energy transition essential. He noted that since 2014, India’s installed renewable energy capacity has increased about 3.5 times and now stands between 263 GW and 270 GW, exceeding the country’s fossil fuel-based installed capacity.

He further pointed out that solar power has led recent capacity additions, reaching nearly 140 GW nationally, while wind capacity stands at around 55 GW. Over the past two years, solar installations have accelerated sharply, and capacity added in the current financial year up to January has almost doubled compared to the previous year. Growth in decentralised solar has exceeded utility-scale solar, driven partly by schemes such as PM Surya Ghar.

Chaturvedi said that India’s target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, which earlier appeared difficult, now looks achievable. However, the longer-term target of net-zero emissions by 2070 remains challenging, as national emissions are expected to continue rising until about 2035. He said, “If we look at the data, India’s emissions are still rising and are expected to continue increasing at least until 2035. After that, they are projected to peak and then gradually decline. When we examine how much of our total final energy requirement is met through renewable energy, excluding biomass, where there is significant debate about how much truly qualifies as renewable and how much contributes to deforestation, the share remains limited.

Excluding biomass, only about 20 per cent of India’s total energy consumption is met through electricity. Within the electricity mix, renewable energy accounts for around 25 per cent. This effectively means that only about 5 per cent of India’s total final energy consumption currently comes from renewable energy sources. This highlights the scale of the challenge ahead, and it is an extremely ambitious transition.

Turning to the specific theme of this conference, Uttar Pradesh, while solar and decentralised renewable energy have been accelerating at the national level, the situation varies across states. Not all states are equally endowed with resources. States such as Gujarat and Rajasthan have better solar potential and land availability compared to Uttar Pradesh.”

Referring to Uttar Pradesh, Chaturvedi said that the state’s solar capacity is estimated at less than 4 GW out of India’s total 140 GW, and total renewable capacity is below 7 GW. While acknowledging land and resource constraints compared to states such as Gujarat and Rajasthan, he said that Uttar Pradesh’s contribution remains below its potential. He added that allocations for the energy sector in FY 2026–27 have reportedly doubled, with notable acceleration in rooftop solar and bioenergy projects.

He further identified regulatory support, particularly net metering, and on-ground implementation as key challenges for rooftop solar deployment, along with the financial health of DISCOMs. He said that improving these areas would be critical to scaling decentralised solar in the state.

Meanwhile, Sanjay, SPO, UPNEDA, outlined ongoing efforts under the PM Surya Ghar scheme and other decentralised solar initiatives. He said rooftop installations are expanding with vendor participation and new technologies improving efficiency. He stated that about 3.8 MW of installations have been achieved under recent programmes, helping save nearly 16,000 acres of land through optimised use of rooftops and non-cultivable areas. He added that around 23 MW of projects are currently under various stages of implementation.

Talking about green hydrogen in the state, he said, “We are working towards 2047 net-zero emissions and are making good progress in hydrogen. In green hydrogen, there is significant potential. We have established Centres of Excellence with two IITs. Many projects are expected to come up, and there are more to come. We have developed a strong policy framework so that those who come forward will have clarity and confidence.

We are gradually moving ahead in this sector. To further promote this, the Chief Minister, along with his team, will be meeting experts from Japan. The state is looking forward to collaborating with Japan to enhance hydrogen technology in the state. We hope this cooperation with Japan will yield positive results, and as we progress in green hydrogen, we will be able to achieve an important milestone in this sector.”

He also spoke about plans for floating solar projects on dams and reservoirs to conserve agricultural land and meet growing power demand.

The summit concluded with a call for stronger collaboration among government agencies, industry players, and technology providers to accelerate Uttar Pradesh’s clean energy transition.