The transition to clean energy under India’s ambitious climate and capacity targets could generate more than 44 lakh full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs by 2030, a new study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) India says. Conducted with technical guidance from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the study highlights rooftop solar as the largest employment driver and raises concerns about gender imbalance in the sector.
Rooftop solar to drive employment growth
The report, titled “Driving Energy Transition: Workforce, Skills, and Gender in India’s Renewable Energy Sector,” finds that rooftop solar will account for roughly 43 per cent of the projected jobs linked to India’s clean energy ambitions. Distributed renewable energy- especially rooftop solar- produces far more jobs per megawatt than large utility-scale projects; the study estimates rooftop solar generates around 45 FTE job‑years per MW. In contrast, ground-mounted solar yields about one FTE job‑year per MW and wind projects about 0.6 FTE job‑year per MW.
The CEEW-NRDC analysis also notes that distributed renewable energy can deliver jobs across urban, semi-urban, and rural areas, creating livelihoods for households, farmers, workers and entrepreneurs while building domestic supply chains.
Recent hiring momentum and sectoral contributions
The study reports that select clean energy sectors have already added more than 6.5 lakh workers between fiscal years 2023 and 2026. Rooftop solar accounted for 62 per cent of those new jobs, followed by the PM-KUSUM programme at 16.3 per cent, biomass power at 12.6 per cent, and ground-mounted solar at 6 per cent.
Overall, the analysis projects that nearly 13 lakh FTE jobs could be created in operations, maintenance and manufacturing roles as India scales its renewable capacity and pursues objectives under initiatives such as the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
Policy perspective and government view
MNRE Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi welcomed the study’s findings and emphasised the importance of public participation in the green transition. “The element of people’s involvement is intrinsic to a successful green transition,” he said. “The positive externalities involved in keeping people as the focus of this green transition is intrinsic, and India has shown that our economic growth trajectory as well as sustainability goals can be pretty well aligned.”
Sarangi cited recent capacity additions as evidence of momentum: “Last year, we achieved about 51 gigawatts of solar and wind, and hopefully, this momentum will continue and expand in the subsequent years.”
CEEW and NRDC perspectives
Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of CEEW, framed the employment opportunity as central to the country’s energy transition. “The opportunity is about creating livelihoods, building skills, deepening domestic supply chains and ensuring that the benefits of clean energy reach households, farmers, workers and entrepreneurs while also adding gigawatts,” he said. Ghosh highlighted rooftop solar’s role in delivering both power and employment: “Rooftop solar shows why distributed renewables matter: they generate clean power while creating more jobs per MW than utility-scale projects.”
NRDC India Country Director Dipa Singh Bagai underlined the strategic value of clean energy employment for broader national objectives. “This study shows that distributed renewable energy, especially rooftop solar, can create employment across cities, small towns and rural areas,” she said, linking job creation to India’s economic growth, energy security, and climate goals.
Gender gap and skills challenge
Despite the promising employment outlook, the report flags significant gender disparities in the renewable energy workforce. Women account for only about 11 per cent of the workforce in solar and wind deployment and manufacturing activities, with most women employed in non‑technical roles such as human resources, accounting, and administration. The study calls attention to the need for targeted measures to improve female participation and to expand technical training and upskilling across the value chain.
What are the implications and next steps?
The CEEW-NRDC study suggests that meeting India’s targets—such as 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity and initiatives under the National Green Hydrogen Mission—will require not just capital investment but also concerted efforts in workforce development. Policymakers, industry and training institutions will need to collaborate to scale vocational training, certify skill standards and promote inclusion in technical and manufacturing roles. As renewable deployment gathers pace, rooftop solar appears poised to be a major engine of job creation while also serving as a model for distributed, locally beneficial clean-energy growth. Addressing the sector’s gender imbalance and ensuring quality, long-term livelihoods in operations, maintenance and manufacturing will determine how equitably and sustainably those economic benefits are realised.