Most of India’s biggest states do not strictly need to produce all their own solar power to meet the vast majority of their electricity needs, as they can instead tap into a shared national grid. By using solar energy generated in the country’s sunniest regions and storing it in batteries, these states can reliably cover around 90 percent of their power demand at a lower cost than current prices, according to the authors of the newly released report.
The report notes that “Typically, India deploys large-scale solar concentrated in a limited number of resource-rich states with strong irradiation, available wasteland and lower execution risk due to fast land acquisition.” It adds that “Sensitivity testing using only local solar resources shows limited divergence in results,” meaning states can meet high demand shares regardless of where the panels are located.
Essentially, it is more efficient for India to build massive solar farms in places with plenty of sunshine and unused land, then send that electricity across state lines. While states with less sun or space could technically produce their own solar power, sharing energy through a national system is often more practical because it overcomes local land constraints and high costs. This allows even the most crowded states to transition away from coal by using cheap solar and battery power harvested from the most productive parts of the country.
The report “Battery storage is now cheap enough to unleash India’s full solar potential” was published by the energy think tank Ember on April 7, 2026. It was prepared by a team of analysts led by Kostantsa Rangelova and Duttatreya Das.
