India is considering what would be the biggest solar tender in the world - 100 gigawatts (GW) - as the fastest growing energy consumer turns increasingly to renewables to satisfy its enormous needs

The country's current total solar capacity is currently 24.4 GW, according to The Economic Times, with a goal of increasing to 100GW of solar capacity as part of its larger aim of 175GW of renewable energy in general by the year 2022.  India wants to increase that momentum with the new 100 GW tender, with the goal of completion by 2030 or 2035 target.

"India is making rapid strides in the field of renewable energy and we will overshoot the target of 175GW renewable energy by 2022," said India's energy minister R.K. Singh.

Twenty of the world's most-polluted cities are in India, mostly because its explosive economic growth has been linked to coal.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a big booster of solar, and wants to link solar expansion to the manufacturing sector.

"This is a perfect illustration of the ambition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' vision," said Tim Buckley, analyst at The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).  "By offering a multi-year solar development pipeline bigger than the world has ever seen before, India will become the solar manufacturing hub of the world (behind only China), leveraging its well-educated, low-cost workforce."