From 5.79% in the total energy mix of India in December 2017, solar has increased its share to 7.91% at the end of December 2018 with approximately 27.9 GW of total installed capacity, according to consultancy Mercom's India Solar Project Tracker.
Indian government statistics peg total grid-interactive solar power capacity of the country till December 2018 reaching 25.21 GW (see India: 25 GW Total PV Capacity End Of 2018).
Mercom's tracker shows India's total installed power capacity at the end of December 2018 was 353 GW, with renewables contributing 77.5 GW or 22%. This is an improvement over a 19.4% or 65.3 GW share at the end of December 2017.
Among renewables, solar accounted for 36% of the installed capacity. In the total power mix, solar's share was 7.9%. Wind power's contribution was almost 10% with 35.1 GW installed, which is not much of a change compared to 9.8% it accounted for in December 2017.
Nuclear power saw its share declining from 2.02% to 1.92% YoY with no new capacity installed during the year.
The share of renewables to the cumulative was next to thermal power that represented 223 GW or 63.2% of the total. Among thermal power sources, coal has the lion's share and represented 54.2% of the total installed capacity by December 2018, followed by natural gas at 7.1%, lignite at 1.8% and diesel with 0.18% share.
"However, thermal power's share of the overall power mix is gradually declining with the significant rise in renewable energy capacity additions. Coal power's contribution (including lignite) fell to 56% in December 2018, while it accounted for more than 57% of the total installed power capacity back in December 2017," reports Mercom.
Mercom says the current installation trends show the India's steady transformation from fossil fuels towards renewables.