Indian solar installations in Q1/2023 (CY 2023) declined by 48% annually and 30% quarterly to 1.9 GW according to Mercom India Research that counts the government’s decision to extend project commissioning deadlines for solar power projects under the CPSU Scheme Phase II as one among the reasons for the low turnout.

Large scale solar with 1.4 GW of the total made up 74% of the total installed capacity in the reporting quarter reflecting a decline of 56% YoY and 37% QoQ. Rooftop solar made up for the remaining 26%.

Karnataka and Gujarat along with Rajasthan form the trio that represented 82% of total large scale installations in the reporting quarter. According to Mercom’s report Q1 2023 India Solar Market Update, large scale solar system costs declined 5% QoQ on an average thanks to drop in cell and module costs. It counts this decline as the 1^st in last 11 quarters.

Mercom analysts count India’s total installed solar PV capacity now stands at 64.5 GW, led by Rajasthan that accounts for 29% or 16.1 GW of the total, but installations were down by 60.7% YoY.

For Rajasthan, Mercom India’s Managing Director Priyadarshini Sanjay blames delays in power evacuations approvals, land acquisition challenges and projects stranded in the Great Indian Bustard habitat as some of the reasons for the decline in the state’s deployments.

Nonetheless, solar contributed 45% of India’s newly installed power generation capacity of 4.1 GW in Q1/2023.

More is yet to come as Mercom estimates nearly 58 GW of tendered projects await auction and more than 58 GW utility scale projects are in the pipeline.

The complete report can be bought on Mercom’s website.