So far, renewable energy projects with an aggregate capacity of about 33,200 MW have been installed in the country which includes 22,168 MW of wind power, 2870 MW of solar power, 4225 MW of bio power and 3938 MW of small hydro power.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been supporting Research and Development (R&D) for technology development and demonstration through various academic and research institutions, autonomous organisations and industry. In addition, the Ministry has set up three research institutes, namely, National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurgaon, National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai and Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy, Kapurthala, Punjab for R&D in solar energy, wind energy and bio-energy, respectively.

Against a budget of ₹500.00 crore allocated for R&D in new and renewable energy sector for the 11th Five Year Plan, a total of 169 R&D projects in the areas of solar energy, bio-energy, hydrogen and fuels cells with an outlay of ₹525 crore were sanctioned and an amount of ₹239.56 crore was released. The R&D projects taken up include: higher efficiency solar cells, Mega Watt scale solar thermal power generation, advance research in biomass energy, hydrogen production, storage and utilization and fuel cells development. In the area of biogas, demonstration projects on purification and bottling of biogas for various applications were taken up.  During the last two and a half years of the current plan period, a total expenditure of ₹208.12 crore has been incurred on R&D in new and Renewable energy.

For the current 12th Plan Period, the Ministry has increased the budgetary provision for research and development to ₹910.00 crore. The focus is on reduction of cost and improving efficiency of renewable energy systems and the key areas for R&D include: Solar energy, wind energy, biomass, biogas, bio-liquid fuels and Hydrogen/fuel-cell technologies.

1.         National Institute of Solar Energy

The main objective of the institute is to assist the Ministry in implementing Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) and function as the apex National Centre for research, testing and technology development in the area of solar energy. The areas of research include solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, energy storage and solar resource assessment.

2.         National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai (NIWE)

The NIWE serves as the technical focal point for wind power development and supports the growing wind power sector in the country. The activities being carried out include wind resource assessment onshore and offshore, wind turbine performance testing, Grid connection and Power Quality, operation and maintenance, wind power development, human resource development, national and international collaborations for research & design development, NIWE has established real time network for wind resource assessment with 100m met-masts at 73 locations, and 121 automatic stations for Solar radiation resource assessment all over India. NIWE is also working on development and implementation of procedures and guidelines for orderly development of quality wind turbines besides preparation of Indian standards for wind turbines.

3.         Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy    

The main objective of the Institute is to carry out and facilitate research, design, development, testing, standardization and technology demonstration in bio energy. The R&D activities include development of bio energy, bio fuels and synthetic fuels in solid, liquid and gaseous forms for transportation, portable and stationary applications and development of new technologies for effective utilization of different types of biomass.