Union Budget 2026: 5 Key Expectations And Hurdles Shaping India's Solar Industry

Union Budget 2026: Ahead of the Union Budget 2026, which is set to be tabled on February 1, India's solar energy sector entered into crucial transition phase with the focus shifting from creating capacity to ensuring manufacturing viability, and eyeing global competitiveness.

Amod Anand, Co-Founder and Director, Loom Solar, said, "As India advances toward its long-term ambition of achieving energy independence and a developed nation status by 2047, the focus now shifts from creating capacity to ensuring manufacturing viability, technological depth, and global competitiveness."

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"The FY27 Budget will be an opportunity to reinforce ongoing economic reforms with climate-linked growth at the centre of policymaking. Increased renewable infrastructure, especially solar, backed by more intense public-private cooperation, would be needed to bridge the gap between current capacity and the 500 GW target by 2030," said Gautam Mohanka, Director, Gautam Solar.

"Demonstrating large-scale solar deployment leveraging government-owned assets, such as Indian Railways, can go a long way in speeding up the capacity addition process," he said.

Meanwhile, Amod Anand, Co-Founder and Director, Loom Solar, said, expectations are centred on closing structural gaps in the entire end-to-end solar and green energy value chain.

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"Solar manufacturers are looking for targeted support for upstream integration—including incentives for poly silicon, ingots, and wafers—along with rationalisation of duties on critical raw materials and resolution of the GST inverted duty structure to ease working-capital pressure," he said.

Further, he listed high expectations being set on "low-cost green finance, R&D incentives for advanced cell technologies, and stronger policy support for C&I solar, storage, and grid infrastructure" to ensure demand stability and minimise curtailment risks.

On the other hand, several key players have pinned their hopes on expanding existing schemes such as PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, and PM-KUSUM, besides new forms of green finance instruments.

Over the past few years, "government interventions, including ALMM enforcement, PLI support for modules, and GST rationalisation, have helped build domestic capacity and reduce import dependence at the assembly level," Amod Anand noted.