Speaking at India Energy Storage Week (IESW) 2025 in New Delhi, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar emphasized the importance of building out energy storage infrastructure in order to meet India’s clean energy targets. In order to optimize renewable energy, stabilize the power grid, and provide a consistent power supply around-the-clock, he underlined the importance of storage systems.
Highlights of the Speech:
Significant cost savings The cost of storage has drastically decreased from ₹10 lakh/MW per month to ₹2.5 lakh/MW per month, which is around 25% less than what it was only a few years ago.
Current vs. planned capacity: India has about 3,300 MW in the pipeline, which should provide about 8,500 MWh in the near future, even while current battery storage stands at about 205 MW (~506 MWh). By FY 2031–2022, the country wants to increase its energy storage capacity by up to 74 GW, which includes pumped hydro projects.
In favor of green hydrogen and energy independence: Manohar Lal linked the development of storage facilities to more general objectives such as boosting India’s energy independence and green hydrogen production.
Trends in the Industry and Policy Changes
Accelerated deployment through tenders: With over 55 GWh awarded in the first half of 2025 alone, India has launched tenders for 171 GWh of storage capacity since 2018, including both pumped hydro and battery energy storage systems. 48.5 GWh is currently being built.
Closing the financial gap: In June 2025, the government added ₹5,400 crore in viability gap funding (VGF) to 30 GWh of BESS projects. This was done on top of the incentives that were already in place with the goal of luring in about ₹33,000 crore in private investment. Under this scheme, NTPC Ltd. and 15 states have been given capacity.
Support from regulations: India increased the economics of storage-linked renewables by extending the waiver of inter-state transmission costs (ISTS) for pumped storage projects and co-located battery systems until June 30, 2028.
The Significance of This Factor Implication
Cleaner Grid Integration Storage lessens need on coal by managing wind and solar fluctuation.
24/7 Renewable Energy Source permits a steady supply of energy, even during periods of decline in renewable generation.
India’s transition to indigenous hydrogen and storage technology is accelerated by energy security and independence.
Manohar Lal’s comments highlight a crucial point: reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity by 2030 depends on significantly increasing storage in addition to solar and wind capacity to maintain the grid’s dependability and efficiency.
