TED Talks Daily Inside India's astonishing solar revolution | Kanika Chawla
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Sep 25, 2025 Kanika Chawla, an energy expert focused on clean-energy policy for developing nations, shares insights on India's solar revolution. She discusses how India transformed an ambitious promise of 100 gigawatts of solar energy into reality, driven by economic motives rather than ideology. Kanika highlights the importance of innovative business models and proper market design, while addressing financing challenges for solar projects. She emphasizes planning, localization, and innovative strategies as key factors enabling developing countries to lead the global energy transition.
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India's Bold Solar Bet
- In 2014 India pledged to grow solar from 3 GW to 100 GW by 2022, a goal many called unrealistic.
- Kanika Chawla describes how India hit that target and unlocked $90 billion and 300,000 solar jobs.
Economics, Not Ideology, Drove The Shift
- India pursued solar primarily for economic reasons rather than ideology, because renewables became the cheapest electricity source worldwide.
- Kanika Chawla highlights that cost-of-capital and market design matter as much as technology.
Fixing Payments To Unlock Investment
- Private developers rushed in but capital stayed away because utilities had poor finances and delayed payments to solar firms.
- The government forced demand and used anchor customers so utilities paid on time, which brought investors back.