NEW DELHI – India’s Ministry of Power convened a high-level Consultative Committee meeting on August 4, 2025, chaired by Union Minister of Power and Housing Affairs Shri Manohar Lal, to deliberate on the nation’s energy storage roadmap and future energy security. The meeting, attended by Minister of State Sh. Shripad Yesso Naik, parliamentary members, and senior officials, underscored India's strategic imperative to integrate large-scale energy storage solutions to stabilize its rapidly expanding renewable energy grid.

Secretary (Power), Government of India, emphasized the critical need for collective deliberation to address challenges in the power sector, particularly in mitigating the variability of renewable energy generation, enhancing grid stability, enabling energy and peak shifting, and providing essential ancillary services for greater renewable energy integration. This strategic focus aligns with India's commitment to reduce its GDP's emissions intensity by 45 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels and achieve 50 percent cumulative installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.

Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal highlighted that the Ministry has initiated several policy measures to promote Energy Storage Systems (ESS), prioritizing resource adequacy and robust power generation capacity tie-ups. A cornerstone of this initiative is the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme, one of the world's largest programs for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), supporting 43 GWh of BESS capacity. A substantial financial outlay of Rs 9,160 crore (approximately $1.1 billion USD) has been earmarked for these BESS VGF schemes. Furthermore, Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges have been fully waived for BESS projects commissioning by June 2028 and for Pumped Storage Plant (PSP) projects where construction is awarded by the same deadline.

India currently possesses an installed PSP capacity of approximately 6.4 GW, with a vast potential exceeding 200 GW. The nation is actively pursuing this potential, with approximately 8 GW of PSP projects currently under construction and an additional 61 GW in various stages of planning and development. These projects are crucial for providing long-duration storage and grid balancing services, complementing the shorter-duration capabilities of BESS.

Members of the Consultative Committee lauded the VGF scheme and the transformative role of smart meters in improving service delivery and reducing losses. They underscored the scheme's importance in ensuring reliable power supply to consumers by facilitating the storage of excess renewable energy for later use. Minister of State Sh. Shripad Yesso Naik further highlighted India’s remarkable achievement of reaching 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources, five years ahead of the 2030 target. This milestone, driven by solar and wind energy, reinforces the indispensable role of ESS as the backbone of a reliable, flexible, and modern power system, spanning generation, transmission, distribution, ancillary services, and electric vehicle integration.

The Ministry affirmed its commitment to incorporating the valuable suggestions from the committee members, emphasizing the overarching goal of ensuring a stable and high-quality power supply for all consumers. This comprehensive approach to energy storage is poised to significantly bolster India's energy transition, ensuring grid resilience and sustainable growth.