India Issues Energy Storage Tenders Totaling 171GWh Since 2018

Since 2018, India has initiated energy storage tenders totaling 171GWh, with over 55GWh announced in just the first half of 2025.

Data from the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) reveals that 118 tenders related to energy storage systems (ESS) have been conducted over the past seven years. These include both hybrid renewable-plus-storage projects and standalone energy storage deployments.

As of June 2025, tendered capacity has reached a cumulative 171GWh, comprising 106GWh from pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) and 66GWh from battery energy storage systems (BESS). However, not all awarded capacity proceeded to development. Approximately 38.72GWh of awarded contracts were later cancelled, primarily from earlier rounds. At present, construction is underway on 48.54GWh of projects—roughly 40GWh in PHES and just under 10GWh in BESS.

According to IESA president Debmalya Sen, around 22GWh of the 55.4GWh issued in 2025 to date pertains to battery storage. He noted that tenders are acting as a key catalyst for the energy storage sector’s expansion, facilitated by central entities such as the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and various state-level agencies.

Still, these tender processes are only an initial move toward the broader deployment of storage systems needed to support national energy objectives. India’s long-term ambition includes integrating 500GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, of which 472GW is expected to come from renewable sources such as solar and wind.

Union Minister for Power, Manohar Lal Khattar, remarked during the India Energy Storage Week (IESW) conference that the country has already achieved about 50% of its renewable energy capacity target. He also pointed out that battery storage costs have significantly decreased in recent years, dropping from approximately INR 1 million (US$11,670)/MW/month to INR 250,000/MW/month.

At the same event, Ghanshyam Prasad, Chair of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), highlighted that current operational BESS capacity in India stands at just 250MW/506MWh—a modest figure in light of the projected 74GW storage requirement across BESS and PHES by fiscal year 2031–2032, based on CEA models.

Meanwhile, market insights from Mercom India indicate that 2024 witnessed over 341MWh of new BESS deployments, marking a significant increase from 51MWh installed in 2023. Karnataka led the installations, accounting for 36% of new capacity, followed by Chhattisgarh (27%) and Gujarat (17%).

The report also notes that approximately 60% of total installed capacity came from batteries integrated with solar power systems. This reflects growing momentum for standalone storage, particularly when compared with March 2024 figures, where around 90% of installed battery systems were part of hybrid setups.

According to the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) and IESA’s H1 2025 update, India must deploy an additional 4GW/17GWh of BESS and 3GW/16GWh of PHES by the close of FY2025–2026 to meet short-term national energy adequacy targets.

Despite a development pipeline featuring 43GWh of BESS and 60GWh of PHES under competitive bidding, IESA has warned that delays to any of these projects could jeopardize India’s ability to meet both immediate and long-term storage goals.