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					</table>India’s decentralized energy market is emerging as a major driver of clean power demand supported by open-access policies, growing commercial and industrial (C&amp;I) demand, and new business models that make renewable energy adoption easier for consumers.
However, panelists at the <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/event/mercom-india-renewables-summit-2026/agenda" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercom India Renewables Summit 2026</a> said the next phase of consumer-led clean power growth will require stronger grid planning, more flexible regulations, and a shift from renewable electricity procurement to deeper industrial decarbonization.
During the session ‘<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/event/mercom-india-renewables-summit-2026/agenda" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Decentralized Energy: Unlocking Consumer-led Clean Power</a>,’ speakers including Abhishek Ranjan, CEO, <a href="https://www.bsesdelhi.com/web/brpl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BRPL</a>; Shri Venkatesh, Founding Partner at <a href="https://skvlawoffices.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SKV Law Offices</a>; and Vishal Jain, Managing Director at <a href="https://august-energy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">August Energy</a> discussed the evolving role of consumers, DISCOMs, developers, and regulators in India’s clean energy transition. The session was moderated by Priya Sanjay, Managing Director at Mercom India.
Speaking on the implementation of ALMM List II, Vishal Jain said, “There will always be short-term hindrances or hiccups that will come with such a paradigm policy. As part of the industry and being there in the industry, I think this is in the right direction. But I think, as I said, this is not a cost; this is an investment.”
Speaking on the evolution of battery storage, Jain said, “The open access solar market is heavily solar. There are hardly any hybrid projects. And because of the nature of solar generation, the viability of such projects depends on power banking. Now, the industry has been treating the grid as an infinite battery, which is unsustainable. In the long term, no country has survived excess daytime solar generation. This is a hard step towards the long-term sustainability of the grid.
Speaking about regulatory uncertainty, Venkatesh said projects conceptualized during policy transitions face uncertainty because developers may not know when new lists or rules will be notified or take effect. He said companies should organize documentation to demonstrate project execution status and ensure that contracts clearly address risk allocation, as boilerplate tender-based contracts often fail to adequately capture policy-change risks.
“The problem occurs when you sign a contract based on it, without considering the intraday arbitrage overhang between peak solar hours and non-solar hours. You don&#8217;t factor this in, and then you sign a power purchase contract, and later, when a dispute arises, you are all fighting over what the minimum guaranteed sale is. So, when you&#8217;re signing a contract or getting into a business, look at the surrounding context, because what is happening in the market will translate into some form of regulation in the months and years ahead,” Venkatesh added.
Sharing his views on resource adequacy guidelines, Abhishek Ranjan said that distribution companies are planning renewable energy procurement based on long-term resource adequacy studies and production cost optimization models rather than on short-term price signals. 
He said the utility models demand across all 96 time blocks each day over a 10-year horizon, incorporating existing and planned generation sources to identify the most cost-effective capacity mix.
He noted that Delhi has already installed over 420 MW of rooftop solar capacity and aims to cross 700 MW within the next two years. However, given that the city&#8217;s peak demand occurs at night, battery energy storage has become critical for integrating renewables.
He added that the state regulator has approved more than 300 MWh of distributed battery storage at the 11 kV level across 10 locations, reflecting a planned approach to integrating distributed renewable energy and storage.
Vishal Jain said India has made significant progress in helping C&amp;I consumers reduce electricity-related emissions by procuring renewable energy.
“India has done a tremendous job of replacing the Scope 2 footprint through supportive policies around open access and focus on renewables,” Jain said. “Customers have, over the longer term replaced 40% to 50% of their Scope 2 footprint.”
However, he cautioned that replacing grid electricity with renewable power is only the first stage of corporate decarbonization.
“Energy transition, just by replacing the electrons, is a short-term approach. The focus has to move from electrons to molecules (fuels and thermal energy used directly in operations), wherein Scope 1 has to come into the picture to truly achieve a net-zero status for the longer term,” said Jain.
He said industrial consumers will need to explore process heat, industrial steam, and other fuel-based applications to move closer to net-zero operations.
“Process heat, industrial steam, waste heat recovery setups, and heat pumps can help achieve that status by replacing molecules,” Jain said.
The panelists said decentralized energy is no longer limited to rooftop solar or open access procurement. It is becoming a broader market involving storage, demand-side management, industrial electrification, behind-the-meter solutions, and flexible clean power models.
Abhishek Ranjan said DISCOMs will play a central role in managing this transition as more consumers become active participants in the power system. As distributed energy resources expand, utilities will need to balance consumer choice with grid reliability, system discipline, and cost-effective planning.
He said the future role of DISCOMs will likely evolve from conventional electricity distribution towards a more dynamic network management function, requiring new regulations for distributed resources, demand flexibility, smart appliances, and peer-to-peer energy transactions.
“The need for balancing reserves should be established through detailed studies, not by forcing solutions. The responsibility for grid balance should be shared based on a &#8216;polluter pays&#8217; principle,” Ranjan added.
Shri Venkatesh said regulatory uncertainty remains a critical risk for decentralized energy projects. Sudden policy shifts, including changes to open access, banking, charges, and approval processes, can alter the economics of long-term renewable energy contracts.
He said standard contracts may not be sufficient in a market where policy and regulatory frameworks continue to evolve. Developers, consumers, and investors must design agreements that clearly allocate regulatory risks, anticipate potential changes, and account for market conditions throughout the project&#8217;s life.
Venkatesh also added that large C&amp;I consumers and data centers should not be viewed through the same lens, as data centers require significantly higher levels of energy security and redundancy.
“In our experience, when it comes to large C&amp;I consumers or data centers, execution risk is the most important factor because, in many ways, they are insulated from regulatory risk,” Venkatesh noted.
Vishal Jain said that innovative business models, such as energy-as-a-service, are helping C&amp;I consumers adopt clean energy without taking on the full upfront capital burden. Under such models, solution providers can finance, build, operate, and maintain clean energy systems while customers benefit from lower-carbon energy and predictable costs.
Jain said faster deployment will require better coordination across government departments and approval agencies. Delays in permits, connectivity, and interdepartmental clearances can slow project.
“The industry must move beyond treating the grid as an ‘infinite battery’ and embrace energy storage,” Jain noted.
The session also highlighted the growing importance of storage and grid-balancing solutions. As renewable energy penetration rises, the need for flexibility will increase, but storage deployment should be guided by system needs, technical studies, and cost-benefit analysis rather than one-size-fits-all mandates, the panelists said.
The panelists also noted that large consumers such as data centers will require reliable, round-the-clock clean power. This will create new opportunities for hybrid renewable energy, storage-backed power, and structured power supply contracts. At the same time, such projects will need to manage risks related to transmission availability, power evacuation, approved module sourcing, and 24&#215;7 supply obligations.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/decentralized-energy-unlocking-consumer-led-clean-power"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97946" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6.jpg" alt="" width="2407" height="1367" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6.jpg 2407w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6-300x170.jpg 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6-2000x1136.jpg 2000w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6-768x436.jpg 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6-1536x872.jpg 1536w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6-2048x1163.jpg 2048w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6-650x369.jpg 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6-624x354.jpg 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Session-6-600x341.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2407px) 100vw, 2407px" /></a>

How Industrial Decarbonization Can Power the Future of Clean Energy Growth

Amid the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, nearly 20 leaders from research groups, think tanks, renewable energy companies, and health care services, have demanded to solarize all unelectrified healthcare sub-centers in rural India.
These leaders have highlighted that the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has shown several existing systemic gaps in services, especially to the rural poor and inadequate healthcare infrastructure is one of them, states the press release.
In a letter written to the government, including the Ministry of Power, NITI Aayog, and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (<a href="https://www.mnre.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MNRE</a>), the representatives have emphasized the need for decentralized renewable energy.
According to the release, &#8220;Over 39,000 sub-centers (the first point of contact between primary health care system and the community) serving 230 million people in rural India lack electricity. This severely impacts their capacity to offer optimal healthcare to patients. Decentralized renewable energy can play a significant role in solving this problem quickly and affordably, for less than ₹30 (~$0.40) per person in initial capital expenditure.&#8221;
The per-person capital expenditure of ₹30 (~$0.40) is based on India Public Health Standard required equipment guidelines for primary healthcare centers and sub-centers. To supply 800 unelectrified primary healthcare centers, 39,000 unelectrified sub-centers with 5 kW and 2 kW solar PV, respectively, with 3-hour storage (cost calculated according to MNRE benchmark numbers). PHCs serve 25 villages and sub-centers serve four villages.
While the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) program focused electrifying all households in rural and urban areas using solar, there is no dedicated program for the electrification of health centers resulting in several centers remaining unelectrified.
Further, the letter outlines four key interventions that the government can undertake to help improve the situation:
<ul>
<li>Expanding the program to install solar on clinics, drawing from the example of the Chhattisgarh state. Between 2012 and 2016, the Chhattisgarh State Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-power-drastically-improves-healthcare-systems-chhattisgarg-ceew/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">installed</a> 2 kW off-grid solar PV rooftop systems across 570 PHCs.</li>
<li>Allocate dedicated funds for this initiative and include it in the national budget. The budget currently has a combined allocation of $12.8 billion for renewable energy and healthcare. Considering a benchmark cost of ₹74 (~$0.98)/W for solar PV system with 3-hour storage per sub-center, India can electrify all sub-centers for ₹6 billion (~$80 million), which is just 0.6% of the 2020-21 energy and healthcare budget.</li>
<li>Ensure long-term operations and sustainability by working through existing structures by setting aside a budget for periodic operations and maintenance to ensure sustainability beyond the 5-year warranty periods.</li>
<li>Promoting innovation to develop more financially viable and energy-efficient medical equipment. Most medical equipments are highly inefficient in terms of power usage, increasing the financial burden on rural clinics. Manufacturers must be incentivized to develop more efficient, durable appliances suitable for rural healthcare services.</li>
</ul>
&#8220;Sustainable health infrastructure that leverages innovative, decentralized, and energy-efficient solutions will bring huge dividends for health in rural India. Transitioning to renewable energies across healthcare operations will ensure efficient service delivery and improved health outcomes,&#8221; said Dr. Poornima Prabhakaran, deputy director, Centre for Environmental Health, PHFI
Citing an example of Chhattisgarh, the letter states that the recent experience from solarizing sub-centers in the state has shown that service improved significantly with the addition of rooftop PV and batteries, resulting in better healthcare outcomes (especially for maternal and neonatal), protecting sensitive medical equipment and saving money.
According to Adwait Joshi, the chief executive officer, Clean Energy Access Network (<a href="https://www.thecleannetwork.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CLEAN</a>), &#8220;Powering rural healthcare infrastructure with decentralized renewable energy is an obvious choice now and in the future. It complements the government&#8217;s goal of providing clean and seamless energy beyond households. Also, it gives healthcare workers options to access advanced technologies such as telemedicine, vaccine storage, baby-incubators, and many others. COVID-19 is a crisis and an opportunity to accelerate up-gradation of rural healthcare infrastructure to a higher level with access to reliable, clean energy.&#8221;
Earlier, Mercom reported that the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) fund out that solar-powered primary healthcare centers in Chhattisgarh <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-power-drastically-improves-healthcare-systems-chhattisgarg-ceew/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">admitted</a> over 50% more patients and conducted almost twice the number of child deliveries in a month compared to power-deficit PHCs that lacked solar system.
In October 2019, Maharashtra&#8217;s Kasturba Health Society <a href="https://mercomindia.com/kasturba-health-society-tender-solar-rooftop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issued</a> a tender for an on-grid solar power pack of 50 kW and a 75 kW rooftop solar.
Image credit: Oleg Savitsky / CC <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BY-SA</a>

Improving Rural Healthcare Amid COVID-19 Crisis by Installing Solar on Clinics

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