India Needs $14.23 trillion Investment by 2070 to Achieve 98% Clean Power: NITI Report

India requires cumulative investments of USD 14.23 trillion in the power sector, including renewables, storage and transmission, by 2070 under a net zero scenario, where non-fossil fuel-based generation will be 98 per cent, said a NITI Aayog report released on Tuesday.

The report stated that India’s development and climate goals increasingly hinge on one system: electricity.

As India moves toward Viksit Bharat 2047 and Net Zero 2070, the power sector's growth will determine whether growth can be both inclusive and sustainable.

Reliable, affordable, and progressively cleaner electricity is essential to improve living standards, raise productivity, and unlock a lowcarbon transition across transport, buildings, and industry, it stated.

With nearly 258 GW of renewable energy capacity installed by December 2025, India has emerged as the world’s fourth-largest renewable energy market, reflecting the scale and momentum of its clean energy expansion, the report, 'SCENARIOS TOWARDS VIKSIT BHARAT AND NET ZERO SECTORAL INSIGHTS: POWER', noted.

The next phase, however, is more complex. Demand will rise sharply with urbanisation, cooling, digitalisation, electric mobility, and green hydrogen, and the system is required to absorb much higher shares of variable renewables, it noted.

Meeting these twin pressures will require not just adding capacity, but strengthening flexibility and resilience through storage, transmission expansion, modern grid operations, and financially viable distribution to ensure that clean electricity continues to be reliable and affordable as it scales, it pointed out.

To quantify pathways that couple development with cleaner power, this study models India’s electricity transition through 2070 under two lenses: a Current Policy Scenario extending today’s trajectory, and an ambitious Net-Zero Scenario aligned with national 2070 net-zero goals.

India’s energy transition will be defined by rapid electrification across the economy, pushing electricity demand onto a much steeper trajectory.

Electricity’s share in final energy is projected to increase from 21 per cent in 2025 to nearly 40 per cent in the Current Policy Scenario (CPS) and 60 per cent in the Net Zero Scenario (NZS) by 2070, driven by high EV penetration, greater use of electric industrial heat (heat pumps/electric boilers), and a shift toward electric cooking.

As a result, per-capita electricity consumption increases from 1,400 kWh in 2025 to 7,000 - 10,000 kWh by 2070, moving toward levels seen in advanced economies such as France and the Republic of Korea, it stated.

By 2070, total installed capacity is projected to be nine times in current policy scenario and 14 times in net-zero scenario.

The capacity mix shifts decisively toward Variable Renewable Energy (VRE): the share of RE capacity (utility + captive) grows from about 43 per cent in 2025 to about 90–93 per cent by 2070.

Solar PV becomes the backbone with capacity reaching 3250 GW – 5500 GW under two scenarios; onshore wind exceeds 1,000 GW, with offshore wind of about 50–70 GW as identified potential is tapped, it stated.

Battery storage is projected to expand from negligible levels today to about 1,300–1,400 GW under Current Policy Scenario and 2,500–3,000 GW under Net Zero Scenario by 2070, while pumped hydro reaches around 150–160 GW.

These resources are critical for adequacy, managing variability, and maintaining reliability in a renewables-dominated grid.

Nuclear energy emerges as a strategic pillar of India’s long-term power transition, scaling from 8.8 GW in 2025 to over 300 GW by 2070, providing firm, dispatchable, low-carbon power that is essential for maintaining system reliability in a renewables-dominated grid.

Land requirements rise with the build up of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE), but remain a modest share of national wasteland - nearly 7.2 per cent in Current Policy Scenario and 12 per cent in Net Zero Scenario of current wasteland by 2070.

The scale of transformation implied by India’s power sector transition is unprecedented and fundamentally capital-intensive.

Cumulative investment requirements reach approximately USD 8.79 trillion in Current Policy Scenario and USD 14.23 trillion in Net Zero Scenario by 2070, it stated.