India is showing developing countries how to quickly transition to solar

Ten years ago, solar power barely existed in India. Now the country is adding more generation capacity from solar than coal. It’s showing other sun-soaked developing countries how to rapidly deploy cleaner energy even in the face of corruption, red tape, and weak finances.

Much of India’s success in executing a tricky energy transition can be attributed to entrepreneurs such as Sumant Sinha. The 56-year-old is the chairman and managing director of ReNew Power Pvt Ltd., the country’s largest renewable energy developer.

The rise of ReNew came as India was wrestling with myriad problems: widespread corruption, a frustrating bureaucracy, and the high cost of capital. When the company was founded in 2011, the country ranked 134th in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index, below China and Russia.

And soon there was another crisis: Between 2006 and 2008, banks had approved a flurry of loans to build new coal power plants based on the view that demand for electricity would surge in India.