Next big thing
India’s clean energy story has been nothing short of remarkable. We’ve raced past targets, scaled renewable capacity at breakneck speed and positioned ourselves as a global climate leader. But there’s a fundamental challenge we must address to sustain this momentum: the intermittent nature of solar and wind power means supply doesn’t always match demand. As someone
who has spent years working at the intersection of policy and technology in India’s energy storage sector, I can tell you with conviction: battery storage is not just the next chapter in our energy story, it’s the next big thing that makes the entire narrative possible.
Really coming up now: The scale of transformation underway is nothing short of extraordinary. As of December 2025, India’s cumulative installed energy storage capacity stands at 510 MW. Now consider this: by 2030, we’ll need 61 GW (336 GWh) of energy storage to support 500 GW of clean power capacity, that’s a 445-fold increase in just five years. And the trajectory doesn’t stop there. By 2032, this requirement balloons to 74 GW (411 GWh), representing a 740-fold expansion from where we stand today.
This isn’t incremental growth; it’s an energy revolution compressed into a single decade. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) estimates that this sector will attract investments of Rs4.79 lakh crore by 2032, making it one of the largest infrastructure build-outs in India’s history.
The game changer: While renewables’ capacity has increased and their share in our installed capacity mix has already touched 50 per cent (wind, solar, hydro), it only contributes to about 12 per cent of our electricity requirement (wind and solar) and 75 per cent of our electricity requirement is still met by coal. The variable nature of renewables has just started to cause challenges in the grid. We have been a witness to near-zero prices in the afternoon at the exchange and coal plants asked to operate at technical minimum or below technical minimum PLF (Plant Load Factor) in some cases, challenges here and there in meeting peak demands and sudden load drops due to a sudden cloud cover, while, in the afternoon, curtailments have been on the rise. Flexibility margin in the grid is being challenged!
By 2030, India would require around 500 GW from non-fossil fuel sources as per our commitment at COP-26, which means that if that target is to be achieved significant amount of renewables will be added to the grid from now to 2030, which also means that the percentage of electricity contribution from renewables in the grid will reach about 40 per cent. Now, that is a challenge, how to integrate that much of renewables in the grid, which is variable in nature! This is exactly where storage comes in; energy storage helps in integrating renewables into the grid sustainably.
To date, India has an installed capacity of 0.8 GWh of battery storage and 4.9 GW of pumped hydro storage, while a pipeline of 80 GWh of BESS and 97 GWh of PSP is in various stages of tendering and execution as of December 2025. From here to 2030, hence, the opportunity is huge, and it’s essential for the capacity to come online by 2030, else there will be enormous grid challenges which even coal plants and banking efforts will not be able to solve.
Policy push: What fills me with optimism is the comprehensive policy ecosystem the government has built – this is the real driver behind why battery storage is taking off. The amended Electricity Rules of December 2022 recognise energy storage systems as integral components of the power system, a foundational shift that legitimises the entire sector.
The National Framework for Promotion of Energy Storage Systems, issued in September 2023, provides the comprehensive deployment roadmap the industry needed. The waiver of inter-state transmission system charges for co-located battery storage and pumped storage projects awarded up to June 2028 dramatically improves project economics – a bold move that accelerates deployment.
The government’s commitment is evident in the numbers: two viability gap funding schemes launched in March 2024 and June 2025 target 43 GWh of capacity. An additional Rs5,400 crore is being rolled out to support 30 GWh of battery storage systems, over and above the R3,700 crore already allocated for 13.2 GWh of projects being implemented.
Where the big opportunity is: The opportunity extends beyond deployment to manufacturing, where the next big thing becomes truly massive. The production-linked incentive scheme worth Rs18,100 crore aims to establish 50 GWh of advanced chemistry cell manufacturing, with 10 GWh reserved for grid-scale storage. This is Aatmanirbhar Bharat in action, building indigenous capabilities that reduce import dependence.
Battery storage is the bridge between India’s renewable energy ambitions and energy security reality. The next decade will witness India emerging as a global leader in energy storage. Battery storage isn’t just coming up; it’s already the next big thing, and those who recognise it now will be the ones who shape India’s energy future.
The author is president, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA)