India has commissioned seven point five gigawatt-hour (GWh) of energy storage capacity, while more than 140 GWh is under construction, awarded or under tendering, the Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Shripad Yesso Naik, said at an industry event. The figures indicate growing momentum in deployment of grid-scale storage across the country. The minister noted that this pipeline reflects projects from both standalone batteries and storage integrated with renewable generation.

Naik said that to build a truly flexible grid deployment must accelerate because the requirement is no longer measured only in gigawatts but in the ability to respond instantly to changing system conditions. He added that whereas India previously focused on whether it could generate enough electricity the present challenge is to deliver the right electricity at the right time and at the right place. The remarks framed storage as central to system reliability and integration of variable renewable energy.

The government has introduced viability gap funding for standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and is providing support through the Power System Development Fund, the minister said. There has been a waiver of inter state transmission charges and steps to integrate storage with renewable energy projects. The Advanced Chemistry Cell production linked incentive scheme includes a 50 GWh allocation that encompasses dedicated capacity for stationary storage and related manufacturing.

Naik described an opportunity for India to become a manufacturing hub for the complete storage ecosystem covering battery management systems, energy management systems and power conversion systems alongside thermal management and fire safety systems. He said battery recycling, power electronics and advanced software will increasingly become the intelligence behind the future grid. Vijay Mittal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Heavy Industries, indicated the government intends to expand policy support for battery recycling and related supply chain measures.