India could exceed 5 GW of agrivoltaic power by 2029, MNRE secretary says

India could install more than 5 gigawatts of agrivoltaic capacity within the next three to four years, senior MNRE official says. Santosh Kumar Sarangi, secretary of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, told reporters ahead of the seventh Agrivoltaics World Conference in New Delhi that the figure is hard to pin down but “upwards of 5‑gigawatts” is realistic if states act quickly. He said state enthusiasm and the speed of notifying feed‑in tariffs are the key drivers. Once a feed‑in tariff is in place, farmer‑producer groups and cooperatives gain the certainty needed to invest. Sarangi noted that several states – Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh – have already run pilot agrivoltaic projects. He added that the ministry is working on a central‑sector scheme, likely to be folded into an existing program, in coordination with the Finance Ministry, to incentivise different agrivoltaic models. ## Context Agrivoltaics combines farming with solar panels on the same land, allowing electricity generation without displacing crops. The success of the plan hinges on state governments setting clear tariff rules, which can unlock private investment and help India meet renewable‑energy goals while supporting farmers.