REconnect Summit- 2025 Addresses State Action, Storage, and Manufacturing in India’s RE Mission
REconnect Summit-2025 spotlighted India’s clean energy progress, with experts urging stronger state action, storage solutions, and domestic manufacturing to achieve the 500 plus GW renewable energy target.
August 05, 2025. By EI News Network
To provide fresh impetus to the renewable energy movement, Energetica India organised the REconnect Summit- 2025, its annual flagship event,with the theme ‘On the Way to 500+ GW’ in New Delhi. The summit brought together top voices across policy, industry, and innovation.
In his inaugural address, Hemant Arora, Director of Energetica India, said India’s clean energy journey has picked up remarkable pace, noting that the country has already achieved 50 percent of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources,five years ahead of the 2030 target.
“Today’s summit is more than just a series of discussions. It is a platform to forge powerful synergies between industry, government, and innovators. From scaling rooftop and C&I solar, to accelerating energy storage solutions, boosting domestic manufacturing, and strengthening financing ecosystems, our agenda reflects both the complexity and the immense opportunity ahead of us,” said Arora.
Building on this momentum, Arun Goyal, Former Member, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), praised India’s shift, with 245 GW of non-fossil capacity now in place, including 116 GW from solar and 50 GW from wind. “This milestone shows that economic growth and sustainability are no longer at odds, they now run parallel,” he said.
However, Goyal flagged three major challenges viz. grid integration, storage, and just transition. With solar output peaking during the day and urban demand surging in the evening, he underlined the need for robust battery energy storage systems and the rollout of time-of-day tariffs.
Goyal lauded the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, which has seen 58 lakh applications and 17.2 lakh installations so far, but noted slower adoption in urban areas due to high costs and DISCOM resistance. He also urged creative land-use solutions like floating solar and agrivoltaics, while calling for reduced import dependency through full-spectrum solar manufacturing.
Adding a state-level perspective, Kartikeya Anand, Head of Investment Promotion (RE, Mines, Metals, Hydrogen) at the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board, spotlighted Andhra Pradesh’s proactive role in India’s renewable energy growth. “The numbers look great nationally, but we need all states on board. Climate targets cannot be achieved in silos,” he said.
Andhra has identified 50 lakh homes for rooftop solar, with 36,000 systems already generating 120 MW. With tariffs as low as INR 1 per unit for SC/ST households, Anand stressed the social impact of the initiative. The state also leads India’s pumped storage pipeline with 43 percent share, and is building coastal solar manufacturing hubs in Visakhapatnam and other areas.
“We are reverse-engineering the future, train people first, and then scale the tech,” Anand said, referring to ongoing skilling programs across ITIs and polytechnics in solar, wind, and battery sectors.
Further, Er. Shailendra Shukla, Chairman of Icon Solar-En Power Technologies and Former Chairman, Chhattisgarh State Power Companies, offered a long-view perspective. He said that India is the third largest solar power generator in the world.
He raised serious concerns about India's over reliance on imports, still sourcing 60 to 70 percent of solar components from abroad, especially China. “Imported, non-DCR cells cost about INR 13 per watt, while Indian DCR cells are nearly INR 24. That’s a huge gap,” he noted.
While welcoming the early momentum of the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, with 10 lakh households solarised in the first year and INR 4,700 crore in subsidies disbursed, Shukla called for deeper reforms in the production of cells, wafers, and solar glass. “PLI benefits have mostly gone to module makers. We need to think full-stack,” he said.
He concluded with a call for policy that works ‘simple, fast, and transparent,’citing Chhattisgarh’s success in quick subsidy transfers as a model.
please contact: contact@energetica-india.net.
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