astronomy

National Solar Mission

National Solar Mission is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand National Solar Mission rather than just read about it. In short: The National Solar Mission (NSM) is a major initiative of the Government of India with active participation from States, to meet its growing energy demands while addressing climate change. The NSM was launched as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on January 11, 2010 under National Action Plan on Climate Change with the objective to establish India as a global leader…

Key takeaways

National Solar Mission belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect National Solar Mission to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of National Solar Mission from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The National Solar Mission (NSM) is a major initiative of the Government of India with active participation from States, to meet its growing energy demands while addressing climate change. The NSM was launched as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on January 11, 2010 under National Action Plan on Climate Change with the objective to establish India as a global leader in solar energy by creating the policy conditions for solar technology diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. To achieve this goal, the mission targets were:

To create an enabling policy framework to reduce the cost of solar power generation enabling large scale deployment To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability through aggressive R&D and the domestic production of critical raw materials, components and products.

Initially, the phase 3 target was 20 GW capacity by 2022. It was later revised to 100 GW. Timelines for which was later extended to March 2026.

Achievements

India reached the 100 GW milestone on Jan 31 2025.

Phase 1 (2010–13) At the time, many investors were willing to set up solar power plants in India, but sale of power by the IPPs was an issue due to the high cost of power and realization of tariff for the same from the distribution companies. It was decided to bundle solar power along with power out of the cheaper unallocated quota of Central stations and selling this bundled power to state distribution utilities at the CERC regulated price. This brought down the gap between average cost of power and sale price of power. For the purpose of bundling, power was to be purchased by an entity and re-sold to the state power distribution utilities. Such function can be done only by a trading company/Discoms, as per the existing statutory provisions. NTPC had a wholly owned subsidiary company engaged in the business of trading of Power – NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd. (NVVN). NVVN was designated as nodal agency for entering into a PPA with Solar Power Developers. The first phase of NSM aimed to commission 1100 MW of grid-connected solar power projects by 2013. This included:

500 MW of solar thermal 500 MW of solar PV 100 MW of rooftop and small solar plants 200 MW of off-grid solar applications 7 million sq. meters of solar thermal collector area (for SWHs, solar cooking, solar cooling, Industrial process heat applications, etc.) NVVN laid out Guidelines for selection of developers for commissioning grid connected solar power projects in India. It issued Request for Selection document outlining criteria for selection: Solar Thermal RFS, Solar PV RfS. To avoid allocating entire capacity to a select few corporate, guidelines required no two projects to have the same parent company or common shareholders. In case of over subscription, a reverse bidding process was to be used to select the final IPPs based on lowest tariff they offer.

NVVN would sign PPAs with the developers and sell the purchased power to different state utilities which had to fulfill their mandatory Renewable Purchase Obligation. Key Government Measures:

Concessional Import duty, excise duty exemption, accelerated depreciation and tax holiday. Generation Based Incentive and facility for bundled power for Grid connected Solar Power Projects through various interventions announced from time to time. Awareness programmes such as exhibitions, training workshops etc. were conducted. Provision for renewable purchase obligation for solar was made in the National Tariff Policy. A payment security mechanism was created to ensure payment to project developers.

Phase 2 (2013-17) After having built an initial momentum of solar projects in the country through setting up domestic manufacturing, demand and fiscal incentives during Phase 1, the next phase was focused on supporting projects through Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The cumulative capacity targets for March 2017 were:

10 GW of grid-connected solar PV plants 1 GW of Off-grid solar applications 15 million sqm of Solar Thermal Collector Area

Phase 3 (2017-25) The 100 GW cumulative capacity target was further broken down into following categories. Original timeline of March 2022 was later extended to March 2026, but were achieved by Jan 2025.

2025 and Beyond As per the target announced by India in the COP26, 500 GW of non fossil based capacity is proposed to be achieved by 2030. The Optimal Generation Mix 2030 Report of CEA estimates a cumulative capacity of around 292 GW for solar PV by 2029-30. This is planned to be achieved through various schemes such as:

Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar - Muft Bijli Yojana Pradhan Mantri - Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projects CPSU Scheme for Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects, etc. Other government measures included: Concessional Import duty, Excise duty exemption, Tax holidays, Viability Gap Funding, Generation Based Incentive, Renewable Purchase Obligation, Green Energy Corridor, Permitting FDI up to 100% under the automatic route, etc

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with National Solar Mission

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what National Solar Mission claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to National Solar Mission before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about National Solar Mission ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of National Solar Mission

In research: National Solar Mission appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses National Solar Mission in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: National Solar Mission is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2010 establishments in India, Indian missions, Manmohan Singh administration, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for National Solar Mission outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study National Solar Mission in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what National Solar Mission means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain National Solar Mission out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is National Solar Mission in simple terms?

Why does National Solar Mission matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study National Solar Mission?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on National Solar Mission.