India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has released figures revealing more than 1GW of grid-connected solar was installed last year.

As of 31 December 2012, a total of 1.176GW had been installed and grid connected in India. Throughout the 2013 calendar year, a further 1.004GW was added, taking the cumulative total to 2.180GW.

Just under 500MW of that – 495MW – was added during the current 2013-14 fiscal year, representing 45% of the grid-connected solar target of 1.1GW; by this time last year grid-connected solar was only 29% towards its target for the year of 800MW.

In the month of December, 2012 alone, 2.5MW of off grid solar was installed. In December 2013, 5.4MW of off grid solar was installed.

As of 31 December 2012, 106MW of off grid solar had been installed cumulatively, as of 31 December 2013; the cumulative total for installed off grid solar was 144MW.

India’s national solar mission (JNNSM), which uses government tenders and reverse auctions, as well as many state level policies, has helped to rapidly grow India’s solar generation.

Despite industry concerns, and trade disputes, India is still pushing forward with ambitious solar targets. In September the ministry set the target of 10GW of solar to be installed by 2017.