The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is a central government ministry of India responsible for policy formulation, scheme administration, and regulation of renewable energy sources like solar, wind, biomass, and small hydro. Its origin traces back to the Commission for Additional Sources of Energy (CASE) established in March 1981 to address the energy crisis of the 1970s. This led to the creation of the Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (DNES) in 1982, which was later renamed the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources in 1992 and finally the MNRE in October 2006. India was the world's first country to establish a dedicated ministry for renewable energy.
The MNRE works by designing and administering flagship schemes to achieve India's target of 500 GW of non-fossil installed capacity by 2030. Key mechanisms include the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana for residential rooftop solar subsidies, the PM-KUSUM scheme for solarizing agriculture, and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for High-Efficiency Solar PV Modules to boost domestic manufacturing. The ministry connects to implementing agencies like the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for utility-scale tenders and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) for financing.
A recent change involves the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, which was approved in February 2024 and subsumed the erstwhile Grid Connected Rooftop Solar (RTS) Programme. Furthermore, the MNRE has recently mandated that all data generated by solar inverters under the PM Surya Ghar scheme must be stored in secure facilities located entirely within India to strengthen energy data security, a directive issued on August 17, 2026. Similar data localisation and cybersecurity requirements were also mandated for wind turbine manufacturers listed under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) for Wind via an amendment on July 31, 2025.