Disputes in Renewable Energy Development: International and Domestic Interventions

India’s National Solar Mission (NSM) is one of the most extensive renewable energy programs worldwide. The program underlays various short-term to long-term goals targeting the country’s growing needs and commitment to climate change control. However, the actual progress lags behind the growth estimations. Similar to other power resources, disputes in the renewable sector are inevitable. The study explored two such dispute cases, including international and domestic interventions, which impacted the sector’s growth trajectory. The study explored disputes’ explicit and implied impact on capacity deployment and determined their long-term consequences. The study identified that the international interventions in the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade dispute case diminished the domestic solar manufacturing potential, induced import dependency, and hindered domestic policy and plans. The nonself-reliance is susceptible to supply chain disruptions, geopolitics, nonavailability of spares and services, and unilateral price changes. On the other hand, the domestic interventions in the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) habitat encroachment dispute case resulted in an additional financial burden on the project developers beyond the agreed tariff and the stranding of large capacity solar and wind projects for a long time. These impacts could be the genesis of other potential disputes and conflicts. Furthermore, the study proposes alternate measures that would support dispute avoidance while securing the rights of both parties in dispute.