Indian states boosting solar power output

The aim is to produce 22 gigawatts of solar power by 2022.

India currently has a solar power capacity of 1,000 megawatts the government aims to increase as part of the national solar mission. Analysts said leadership in developing solar power is shifting from the national government to individual states.

In the last five months, five Indian states have announced plans to bring a combined total of 6,150MW of solar power online within five years. Individual state targets range from 350MW in Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu's goal of 3,000MW by 2015.

In what is India’s single biggest solar tender, Tamil Nadu announced last October that it was seeking bidders to add 1,000MW of solar power each year until 2015. The response to the bid, however, was lukewarm with Tamil Nadu receiving bids for only 500MW.

With a 4,000MW deficit in power production, Tamil Nadu currently endures rolling blackouts.