India Shows Economic Resilience Despite Global Turmoil, Says Pralhad Joshi

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi has said that India has maintained strong economic performance despite ongoing instability and uncertainty across the world.

Speaking at the inauguration of the 7th Agrivoltaics World Conference 2026 in New Delhi, Joshi highlighted the country’s progress in clean energy, noting that India’s installed power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources has reached 308 gigawatts. He added that nearly 100 GW of capacity had been added in less than two-and-a-half years.

Emphasising the importance of agrivoltaics, the minister said the approach could improve farmers’ livelihoods while supporting India’s transition towards cleaner energy. He noted that the current edition of the international conference is the largest held so far.

Joshi also announced the government’s intention to introduce one of the world’s largest agrivoltaic programmes under the next phase of the PM-KUSUM scheme. According to him, the initiative has already benefited around 25 lakh farmers and helped save approximately 800 million litres of diesel.

The minister said the conference theme, “Powering the Global South,” reflects India’s vision of promoting sustainable development and clean energy solutions across developing nations.

Agrivoltaics enables solar panels and agricultural activities to operate on the same land, offering farmers an additional source of income while contributing to renewable power generation. Joshi stressed that this model could play an important role in meeting India’s growing energy demand without compromising agricultural needs.