On a weekday morning in an apartment complex in Noida, the lift runs on backup power for a few minutes during a brief outage. 

Upstairs, a family’s rooftop solar panels feed electricity into their home, while an electric scooter charges in the parking lot below. 

A few years ago, this combination would have felt aspirational, even elite. Today, it is slowly becoming normal.

India’s clean energy shift is no longer confined to distant solar parks or policy speeches. With the Union Budget 2026, that shift will likely inch closer to middle-class homes, affecting how much families pay for power, fuel, and mobility.

India has rapidly expanded its clean energy base over the past decade. As of 2025, the country’s installed renewable energy capacity has more than doubled to around 266.8 GW, up from roughly 120 GW in 2015.

Solar energy now accounts for over half of this capacity, with the rest coming from wind, hydro, and other non-fossil sources.

This scale places India among the world’s top renewable energy producers. But capacity alone does not guarantee affordability or access at the household level.

Electric vehicles are no longer unusual on Indian roads. India recorded over two million EV sales in 2024, with two-wheelers forming the largest share. This growth reflects rising comfort with EVs, especially among urban commuters drawn to lower running........

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