New Delhi: The government has cut down the time permitted for commissioning and financial closure of solar power projects as the country continues its bid to accelerate the pace of renewable energy capacity addition. Project developers, however, could face issues as the pressure of acquisition of land and availability of transmission infrastructure keep growing. Including rooftop solar, India has around 26 GW of solar energy capacities. The government aims at bidding out 34 GW capacities the current financial year and 30 GW in 2019-20.

The timeline for commissioning of solar projects in a solar park and outside of it will be 15 and 18 months, respectively, against the previous timeline of 21and 24 months, the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) said.

"Land is not an issue when a project is being built inside a solar park. This will help us adding project capacity at a faster pace," an official told Economic Times.

In a recent submission to MNRE, industry body Solar Power Developers Association (SPDA) said: "In case of CTU (central transmission utility)-connected projects, which are outside solar park, the commissioning timeline shall be minimum 24 months from execution of PPA."

Targeting 1,00,000 MW of output by 2022, the Modi government aims to make India one of the largest markets for renewable energy in the world.