New Delhi, Oct. 7 -- India's solar capacity rose from under 3 GW in 2014 to 168 GW by August, amid growing demand for clean power. However, steep US tariffs on solar cells and panels from India, Indonesia and Laos threaten to hit a rapidly growing industry. Uneven growth in India's solar energy sector is also posing challenges.

Factories make far more modules than India needs, but too few of the cells that go into them. The grid receives more solar power at noon than it can absorb, and the batteries that could store the surplus are getting costlier. India's goal of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 hinges on fixing these imbalances.

India's solar build-out has expanded rapidly. In FY26, the country installed 44.6 GW of solar capacit...