While solar energy has great potential as a renewable energy source for India, in terms of resource availability, flexibility in scale and applications, it is one of the most expensive of such options today. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, with an ambitious target of 22 GW of solar power capacity by 2022, is a departure from the past, as India has started to mainstream climate considerations in energy planning, and has allocated a large public subsidy for promotion of solar energy. But the mission objectives are unclear and actions are not aligned with India’s development needs. Solar lanterns should be distributed using innovative mechanisms and a public process should be initiated to quickly develop a comprehensive plan for implementation of solar home lighting systems and off-grid solutions.