India's renewable expansion relies heavily on Chinese solar and wind equipment, exposing supply chain risks.
While India builds its green energy capacity to replace coal, rapid growth in the sector over the last decade has created a heavy dependency on imports from Beijing for key components like photovoltaic cells and wind turbines.
India aims to expand its renewable energy footprint to boost energy security, but this self-reliance push faces significant hurdles regarding equipment sourcing. According to data from the Niti Aayog think tank, solar and wind power plants now constitute over 40% of total electricity generation capacity in India, a figure nearly equal to coal-fired generation. Experts told CNBC that while green energy is available domestically, the sector's rapid expansion over the last ten years has led to heavy reliance on imports from Beijing. The report highlights that New Delhi still depends on China for critical manufacturing inputs required for its manufacturing and investment agenda. A photograph taken on November 5, 2025, shows employees inspecting photovoltaic cells at an Adani Group factory in Mundra, Gujarat, illustrating the scale of this industrial activity. Despite Western businesses positioning India as an alternative to China for investments, domestic power supply remains a constraint. The article suggests that without addressing these import dependencies, the green energy agenda faces challenges in attracting further data center and chip-related investments. India's strategy attempts to position itself as a manufacturing hub but currently exposes a vulnerability in its supply chain regarding technology hardware.
