India Gives More Time to Solar Projects Hit by Bird Conservation Rules

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, a central government authority, has announced that developers of renewable energy projects will be allowed additional time to complete certain delayed solar projects. This decision comes after a prolonged legal dispute over the construction of power transmission lines in the habitats of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard bird in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The ministry’s official order states that delays caused by challenges in getting approval for overhead transmission lines in these sensitive ecological areas will be treated as “force majeure”—meaning they are situations beyond the control of project developers. As a result, these developers are now eligible to seek extensions to their original commissioning deadlines if the delays occurred between March 21, 2024, and December 19, 2025.

This move follows a Supreme Court ruling in December 2025, which backed recommendations by an expert panel to better protect the Great Indian Bustard. The panel’s plan includes stricter limits on new solar and wind projects in key habitat zones and calls for undergrounding or rerouting of critical transmission lines to reduce environmental harm.

Developers had paused work on affected projects while awaiting clarity from the courts, which put them at risk of penalties or disconnection under grid rules if they missed contractual commissioning dates. The ministry’s order does not specify how long the extensions might be, but it directs renewable energy implementing agencies to grant relief where appropriate.

To further support the impacted projects, the ministry has also asked the Ministry of Power and electricity grid operators to adjust connectivity and transmission charges for the affected developers.

India is pursuing an ambitious goal of achieving 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel power capacity by 2030, and this administrative step aims to keep renewable energy project timelines from being jeopardized by environmental litigation delays and infrastructure challenges.