India Outpaces Regional Peers in Green Energy Push, Says S&P Global Ratings

India is leading South and Southeast Asia in renewable energy expansion, according to a new S&P Global Ratings report. The country’s supportive policies, large-scale hybrid projects, and growing private funding are driving rapid capacity additions-significantly outpacing coal and other fossil fuels.

The report highlights India’s strong policy framework and advancing grid network, alongside an encouraging investment environment that continues to attract private sector participation. In contrast, countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam risk missing their energy transition targets due to funding gaps and infrastructure delays.

S&P Global notes that India’s progress is further boosted by a rise in storage-based tenders, including battery projects that support renewable integration. The nation added 35 GW of renewable capacity in the first nine months of 2025, putting it on track to meet its 50 GW annual target toward achieving 500 GW by 2030.

While India’s power sector remains central to regional emissions, its proactive approach, technology adoption, and robust financing mechanisms position it as a front-runner in decarbonization efforts across South and Southeast Asia.

The S&P Global assessment is significant because it positions India as the clear renewable-execution leader in South and Southeast Asia - a status that increasingly matters for institutional-investor allocation decisions and for regional carbon-credit and energy-trading markets. Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam face similar decarbonisation ambitions but weaker financing and infrastructure frameworks.

Storage-based tender growth is a particularly important marker. Firm renewable power (solar or wind bundled with battery storage) commands better PPA economics and unlocks discom procurement that was previously blocked by intermittency concerns. India's leadership on storage-integrated tenders sets pricing benchmarks that influence regional developer strategy.

For utilities, IPPs, storage operators and institutional investors comparing opportunities across South and Southeast Asia, Cognitud's market intelligence, energy transition and responsible investment teams help clients evaluate cross-border investment cases, structure regional portfolios that balance risk-return dynamics, and prepare disclosures aligned with ISSB, TCFD and jurisdictional sustainable-finance frameworks that increasingly determine capital allocation across Asian energy markets.