National Solar Mission

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), commonly the National Solar Mission, was launched on 11 January 2010 as one of the eight national missions constituting the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), released by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change in June 2008. Administered by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the mission's original objective was to establish India as a global leader in solar energy by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country. Its founding target was 20,000 MW (20 GW) of grid-connected solar capacity by 2022, alongside 2,000 MW of off-grid capacity and 20 million square metres of solar thermal collector area, to be achieved in three phases. The mission embodies India's commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where as a developing country India accepts no binding emission cuts but pursues domestic mitigation.

In June 2015 the Union Cabinet revised the mission's grid-connected target fivefold, from 20 GW to 100 GW by 2022, comprising 40 GW of rooftop solar and 60 GW of large and medium ground-mounted plants. The mission operates through several instruments: the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme, reverse-auction competitive bidding that drove tariffs to record lows, the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) mandating discoms to procure a fixed share from renewables, and the issuance of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Flagship sub-programmes include solar parks (such as Bhadla in Rajasthan and Pavagada in Karnataka), the PM-KUSUM scheme for solar pumps in agriculture, Rooftop Solar Phase-II, and the CPSU scheme using domestically manufactured cells and modules. The Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) clause was challenged by the United States at the WTO, which ruled against India in 2016.

The mission feeds India's larger renewable ambitions: the Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contribution committed India to 40% non-fossil installed capacity by 2030, a target met by 2021, and revised upward to 50% and 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030 at COP26 (Glasgow, 2021) under the "Panchamrit" pledges. India co-founded the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with France in 2015, headquartered at Gurugram. As of 2026, installed solar capacity has crossed the 100 GW mark, though the original 2022 deadline was missed; production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes and the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) now support domestic photovoltaic manufacturing.

For UPSC aspirants, the National Solar Mission is a high-frequency topic in GS Paper III (environment, energy security, climate change) and Prelims, where questions test the launch year, the NAPCC missions, target revisions, and associated schemes (KUSUM, ISA, solar parks). It also surfaces in GS Paper II on international groupings (ISA) and in essay and geography papers on India's energy geography and locational advantages for solar generation. The typical Prelims angle pairs the mission with the other NAPCC missions or asks which scheme targets a particular sector.