Accurate measurement of renewable energy capacity is a prerequisite for effective climate policy making. Yet, official statistics are rarely cross-validated against independent sources. Sound measurement helps policymakers meet globally-stated goals and guides the private sector in deploying capital. We compare solar and wind installed capacity from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) against two independent sources: satellite imagery from Global Renewables Watch (GRW) and project-level data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) CAPEX database. For solar, GRW tracks CEA closely (95% as of January 2024) initially, but diverges by April 2026. The satellite estimate of 133 GW with a slight downward adjustment to account for non-operational plants likely represents true solar capacity in India as of April 2026. Wind estimates differ more substantially, with GRW reporting 122% of CEA capacity as of January 2024, likely reflecting higher turbine capacity factor assumptions. As of April 2026, CEA reports installed wind capacity of 56.4 GW. The CMIE CAPEX database accounts for roughly 48–75% of CEA-reported capacity for wind and solar respectively by April 2026, consistent with its role as a survey rather than a census, and indicative of sizeable unrecorded capacity. Our analysis establishes a benchmark to validate official statistics with alternative data. Additionally, we note that alternative sources like GRW and CMIE CAPEX can serve as valuable project-level resources supporting microeconomic research.
Citation:
Measurement of renewable energy capacity in India, Rounak Hande, Utkarsh Narain, Ajay Shah, XKDR Forum Working Paper 45, August 2026.
