Established in 1975, NTPC Ltd. is India’s largest player with an installed capacity of 69.01 GW as of FY2022. It has been growing at a CAGR of 6.5% over the past 7 years and the company aims to become a 130 GW company by 2032 by focusing more on renewable energy hereafter.
Followed by NTPC, Adani Group is the largest private-sector power player in India with an installed capacity of 19.02 GW as of FY2022. It is expanding at a rapid pace, especially in terms of renewable energy with 11.79 GW under execution and 3.2 GW near construction. It is growing at a CAGR of 10.8% over the last 7 years which is the fastest pace in the industry. By 2025, it aspires to be the world’s largest solar energy firm, and by 2030, it wants to be the world’s largest renewable energy company.
The third-largest player in India is Tata Power, established in 1911by its late founder Shri Jamshetji Tata. It has been growing at a CAGR of 6.5% and is also one of the companies which are committing to renewable energy. It has also deployed EV charging solutions with over 1,000+ EV charging points across 200 different cities. Tata power is focusing more on the EV charging station which is in line with the Tata group strategy to establish an Electric Vehicle trend in India in which Tata Power will focus on the affordability of charging stations while Tata Motors would focus on the electric vehicle.
The fifth player is JSW Energy, a part of JSW Group, with an installed capacity of 4.56 GW. In addition to grid-connected RE capacity, JSWEL is working towards leveraging its balance sheet strength to invest in large-scale hydro pumped storage (PSP) and green hydrogen projects.
The next company on the list is Reliance Power Ltd., which is a part of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group. It has shown almost zero growth in capacity over the last 7 years. It has an installed capacity of 5.95 GW out of which 5.76 GW is thermal power and 0.1 GWisof renewable energy-based capacity. The company is facing a lot of challenges because of its high debt levels. Currently, the company has total borrowing of more than Rs. 23,000 crores. The company has not reported profits in the last four financial years.
NHPC, a Mini Ratna company of India, is a public sector utility company with more than 70% of the company’s total share capital being owned by the government. NHPC Ltd has an installed capacity of 7.07 GW which is majorly Hydro energy. Out of the total capacity of 7.07 GW, 6.97 GW is hydro and 0.1 GW is renewable capacity. This installed capacity of 6.97 GW comprises 15% of the total installed hydro capacity in India. The company also has under-construction projects of 5.89 GW.
Installed Capacity of Top 5 players
| (in GW) | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | CAGR |
| NTPC | 44.4 | 46.7 | 51.7 | 53.7 | 55.1 | 62.1 | 65.8 | 69.0 | 6.5% |
| Adani Group* | 9.28 | 10.44 | 10.44 | 10.48 | 12.46 | 14.81 | 15.97 | 19.02 | 10.8% |
| Tata Power | 8.73 | 9.18 | 10.46 | 10.76 | 10.96 | 12.26 | 12.81 | 13.52 | 6.5% |
| Reliance Power | 5.85 | 5.95 | 5.95 | 5.95 | 5.95 | 5.95 | 5.95 | 5.95 | 0.24% |
| JSW Energy | 3.14 | 4.53 | 4.53 | 4.53 | 4.54 | 4.56 | 4.56 | 4.56 | 5% |
Latest announcements and future prospects in the Power sector
The PLI scheme received an extra investment of Rs 19,500 crore in the Union Budget 2022-23, after an initial outlay of Rs 4,500 crore. Based on an initial allocation of Rs 4,500 crore, Reliance New Energy Solar, Andhra Pradesh-based transformer producer Shirdi Sai Electricals, and BC Jindal Group’s Jindal India Solar Energy were chosen as beneficiaries of the PLI scheme for solar panel production.
According to the IMF, India will continue to be one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies in the foreseeable future. Power demand is expected to grow as a result of overall socio-economic development and an ambitious ambition to electrify every household. The peak demand is expected to be 299 GW in FY27, which would need investment in capacity expansion of more than US$ 304 billion.
Renewable Energy has become more economically appealing and cheap than thermal power because of technological advancements and lower capital costs. The Renewable Energy Segment is predicted to be the primary driver of additional power generation in India.
India is poised to become a key center for manufacturing nuclear reactors and associated components owing to several bilateral nuclear agreements in place.
