India has rarely discussed land footprinting scientifically and objectively. 

During the British era, large non-revenue lands were labelled as wastelands. Unfortunately, this definition continues to determine how several government departments classify land even today. As the demand for renewable energy rises, many such parcels of land are being earmarked for solar and wind projects, often triggering avoidable land and environmental conflicts.

Land Footprinting

Land footprinting refers to the process of quantifying how much land, either directly or indirectly, is required for a particular activity, sector, or consumption. It is as important as carbon, water, or energy footprinting.

Land footprinting cuts across all key sectors, such as:

• Agriculture and forestry
• Housing and infrastructure
• Manufacturing and energy
• Transport and services

Yet, this crucial process has rarely been applied in India, leading to several distortions in planning.

Reassessing Next Three Years

India aims to reach 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity, including hydro and nuclear, by 2030. But the parameters behind this target were shaped before recent global and geopolitical changes.

For instance, green hydrogen was once projected as the ultimate low-carbon solution, but costs and market realities have shifted.

Further, battery energy storage systems (BESS), once considered expensive, are now becoming viable at record speed.

Battery Energy Storage Systems

Moreover, the country is already facing renewable evacuation challenges due to transmission bottlenecks.

Renewables are modular by nature. With BESS growing rapidly, microgrids, distributed power systems, and localised energy independence, especially for institutions and data centres, are becoming more attractive than ever.

Considering these shifts, a more realistic estimate is that new renewable installations over the next few years may be around 30,000 MW (solar), 8,000 MW (wind), and 2,000 MW (BESS), annually. Land required for new installations will not be over 50,000 hectares per annum in the whole country in the near future.

Effective Use Of Solar

The Current rooftop penetration is roughly:

• Residential: <10%
• Commercial and industrial (C&I): ≈5%

Even raising this to 50% (residential) and 20% (C&I) over the next five years can add tens of thousands of megawatts, without using additional land. Large industrial sheds and commercial rooftops remain vastly underutilised. With supportive policies or incentives, this segment alone can add high-volume capacity.

Another crucial component is floating solar, the potential of which has already been proven. Installations across reservoirs, canals, and waterbodies show that the country can scale floating solar without competing for land.

Agrivoltaics (APV)

Agrivoltaics allows farmers to earn dual incomes by integrating solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation and crops. ICAR’s Centre of Excellence on APV showed promising results for vegetables and fruits, though staples such as rice and wheat saw a decline.  

APV can significantly reduce the pressure on exclusive land allocation for renewables, as demonstrated by India’s largest APV operators.

Utilising Idle, Surplus Lands

Large tracts of unused land exist across government departments (Railways, Defence, Mines), public and private enterprises, and trusts, among others. With supportive policies and decentralised models, these parcels of land can become high-efficiency renewable hubs without requiring land acquisition.

Further, the modularity of renewables could be leveraged. Solar, wind, biogas, and BESS are inherently modular, making them ideal for decentralised deployment, multipurpose land use, flexible scaling, and quicker commissioning.

India must now give equal or higher priority to non-utility projects — rooftop, C&I, agriculture-linked, community solar — as they use land far more efficiently and support low-carbon goals better.  

Need For Transparent Framework

Across many states, renewable leasing policies favour large corporates, raising concerns that vast tracts of commons and government wastelands may be cornered extraneously. A transparent, equitable framework that includes MSMEs and citizens will encourage wider participation and healthier competition.

India needs a realistic and scientific demand estimate for renewable installations across residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and utility scales — after accounting for energy efficiency measures.

Therefore, to maximise land-use efficiency, rooftop, C&I, and agricultural solar must be prioritised alongside utility-scale projects, surplus and idle lands should be leveraged extensively, and new financial models must encourage resource efficiency and decentralised generation.

The perception of land shortage is more of a myth than a reality. With the right policies, transparent frameworks, and technological progress, India can meet its renewable goals while using land wisely, efficiently, and sustainably.

(The writer is the Founder-Trustee of Innovative Thought Forum. Views are personal.)