Que: India’s renewable energy sector has grown rapidly over the last decade. What do you see as the biggest opportunities and challenges for the industry in the years ahead?

Ans: India has demonstrated that renewable energy can be built at scale. Solar has led that growth, while wind continues to play an important role in creating a more balanced generation profile. Earlier, the priority was to add capacity rapidly and reduce tariffs. That objective has largely been achieved. Today, the conversation is shifting from how much renewable capacity we can build to how effectively we can integrate and utilise it.

The real opportunity now lies in delivering dependable clean energy when customers actually need it, rather than simply adding more installed capacity. Procurement is therefore evolving towards hybrid projects, Round-the-Clock (RTC) power, Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE), and storage-linked solutions. These are not merely new tender structures; they reflect customers' growing demand for reliable, schedulable, and predictable renewable power.

Commercial and industrial consumers illustrate this shift well. Data centres, for example, require clean power that is also highly reliable. Meeting such requirements will demand stronger integration of renewable generation with storage, forecasting, and grid management.

The industry's growth potential remains significant. However, land availability, transmission readiness, payment security, domestic supply-chain quality, financing structures, and faster project execution will determine how much installed renewable capacity can ultimately become dependable operating capacity.

Que: Round-the-clock renewable energy is becoming increasingly important. What will it take to scale RTC projects successfully in India?

Ans: RTC is becoming essential because renewable energy must now do more than add green electrons to the grid. It increasingly needs to substitute conventional power in a dependable manner wherever customer load profiles permit.

RTC is not a single product. A data centre requires near-continuous clean power with minimal interruption, while a manufacturing facility may require supply aligned to production shifts. Utilities and DISCOMs, meanwhile, seek renewable power during peak demand periods. The solution therefore depends on the customer's operational requirements rather than the technology itself.

Solar provides scale, wind complements the generation profile, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) address shorter-duration flexibility, and pumped storage becomes valuable for longer-duration energy shifting. However, customers ultimately buy reliable outcomes, not individual technologies.

Success will depend on planning and operating solar, wind, and storage assets as an integrated portfolio. Accurate forecasting, scheduling, DSM optimisation and intelligent dispatch will become just as important as building generation assets themselves. RTC will scale when customers consistently experience reliable, clean power during the hours that matter most.

Que: Energy storage is crucial for the growth of renewable energy. How do you view the current state of storage adoption in India, and what changes do you expect over the next five years?

Ans: Storage is rapidly moving from being an enabling technology to becoming a central pillar of renewable energy procurement. Today, deployment is being driven by policy support, competitive tenders, and state-level initiatives. The next phase will focus on execution and operational performance.

BESS is likely to scale faster because they are modular and well-suited for peak management, grid support, and renewable balancing. Over the next five years, the industry will develop a much deeper understanding of battery performance, degradation, safety, cycling behaviour, warranties and lifecycle economics.

At the same time, India should continue strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities across cells, battery packs, battery management systems, recycling and research. Building domestic capability is important, but it must evolve alongside competitiveness, quality and continuous innovation.

Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) will follow a different trajectory. Although they involve longer development cycles, they are well suited for long-duration storage and can become a critical backbone for renewable integration. With supportive policies, faster approvals, and robust long-term offtake arrangements, more private PSPs should move from announcements to commissioning over the coming years.

Que: Many companies have set net-zero targets. How prepared is the Indian industry to achieve these goals, and what more needs to be done to support their transition?

Ans: Net zero is increasingly becoming a business strategy issue rather than merely a sustainability initiative. It is closely linked to cost competitiveness, export markets, customer expectations, and long-term business resilience.

Preparedness, however, remains uneven. Large corporates with global exposure are moving faster because of customer expectations and regulatory requirements. Even for them, access to firm renewable power, policy stability, and confidence that commercial frameworks will remain predictable are essential before committing to long-term renewable procurement.

For many small and medium enterprises, the challenge is different. While interest in renewable energy is growing, procurement options, contractual structures, and regulatory processes often appear complex. Adoption will accelerate when renewable solutions become simpler, commercially attractive, and easier to integrate into existing operations.

Decarbonising electricity consumption is comparatively straightforward through open access, captive models, hybrid projects and RTC solutions. Hard-to-abate industrial processes, process heat and conventional fuels present a much greater challenge and will require electrification, cleaner fuels and, in select applications, green hydrogen. The industry's intent is clear; the transition must now become easier to adopt, reliable to operate, and stable over the long term.

Que: As renewable energy capacity increases, grid integration is becoming more challenging. What steps are needed to strengthen the grid and support higher renewable energy adoption?

Ans: As renewable penetration increases, grid integration becomes significantly more complex. Intermittency, forecasting, scheduling, balancing, and system reliability all become real-time operational priorities, while transmission availability continues to constrain project execution in several regions.

The first priority is transmission infrastructure. Transmission planning must stay ahead of generation development so that renewable-rich regions remain effectively connected to demand centres.

Equally important, generation planning, transmission planning, and storage planning can no longer happen independently. They must evolve as one integrated system capable of delivering reliable clean power.

Grid operators also require greater real-time visibility of both generation and demand. Better forecasting, feeder-level data, wider smart-meter deployment and digital technologies will strengthen system operations, improve DSM performance and enable faster operational decisions.

Ultimately, renewable energy should become an integral part of normal grid operations rather than being treated as a separate resource requiring special management. Grid modernisation is therefore the bridge between renewable capacity addition and reliable power delivery.

Que: Investment is key to accelerating clean energy deployment. How do you assess the current financing environment for renewable energy projects, and what can help attract more investments into the sector?

Ans: India's renewable energy financing environment remains fundamentally strong. Investors recognise these as long-life infrastructure assets capable of generating stable cash flows once operational.

However, capital has become more discerning. Investors increasingly evaluate developers’ execution capabilities, off-taker credit quality, payment discipline, governance standards, and policy stability because each of these directly influences long-term project performance.

The emergence of RTC and storage introduces new considerations. BESS has a limited long-term operational history at scale, leading lenders to assess technology performance and lifecycle assumptions carefully. Pumped storage projects, meanwhile, require substantial upfront investment and longer development timelines, increasing execution risk.

Public financing can play an important catalytic role in supporting early deployment of these technologies. As operational confidence grows, private capital is likely to participate more aggressively.

Policy consistency, faster approvals, improved transmission visibility, timely land availability, and stronger domestic supply chains will further strengthen investor confidence. The next phase of investment will increasingly favour developers that combine disciplined execution with the ability to consistently deliver reliable clean energy over the full life of their assets.