India adds record 3 GW of open-access solar in Q2

A new solar field does not need to sit beside the factory it serves. In India, developers added 3 GW of open-access solar in Q2 2026, the highest quarterly addition on record, according to Mercom India's latest market report. Rajasthan supplied 25% of that quarter's additions.

Open access lets commercial and industrial consumers buy electricity from off-site solar projects through India's transmission and distribution network, rather than relying only on their local distribution companies. The power can be supplied through a power purchase agreement — a contract to buy electricity over time — or through captive and group-captive arrangements in which consumers participate in the project.

The pace is building. India added nearly 6 GW of open-access solar in the first half of 2026, up 42% year on year from 4 GW in the first half of 2025. Cumulative capacity reached 36 GW at the end of June. Karnataka held 21% of that total, while Rajasthan and Maharashtra each held 16%; the five leading states together accounted for 77%.

Part of the rush reflected deadlines around the phased reduction of the interstate transmission system charge waiver and new domestic-sourcing requirements. The Approved List of Models and Manufacturers List-II rules for open-access projects were later deferred until the end of 2026, but Mercom India said the delay came after many developers had already accelerated procurement and commissioning.

So what changes in practice? More factories and other large commercial users can source solar power from projects beyond their own sites, with the potential for meaningful savings when tariffs work. But Priya Sanjay, managing director of Mercom India, said rising project costs, transmission constraints, changing banking and open-access rules, and domestic sourcing requirements are putting pressure on project economics. The next phase depends on whether states provide predictable rules and developers can keep delivering power at prices that preserve those savings.