Union power minister Manohar Lal said India’s peak power demand is expected to reach 300 gigawatt (GW) next year, driven by expansion of data centres, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles, urging large-scale energy storage and domestic manufacturing to secure the clean energy transition. He underlined the strategic need to invest in storage technologies and to build local supply chains to reduce import dependence. Speaking at the 12th India Energy Storage Week at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi, the minister noted that peak demand has already hit 271 GW while available capacity has grown to 284 GW, which allows current needs to be met. He said the pace of electrification makes preparing for a 300 GW peak essential for planning and grid resilience. Officials added that meeting the higher peak will require coordinated expansion of generation, storage and grid flexibility. Installed generation capacity has risen from 249 GW in 2014 to 445 GW, with non-fossil fuel capacity increasing from 81 GW to 291 GW in the same period. Solar capacity increased from 3 GW 12 years ago to 137 GW, a fiftyfold rise underlining the scale of the clean energy buildout. The minister argued that energy storage is a national imperative to make renewable power available at peak hours and to enable near constant supply. He referred to India’s experience with pumped storage since 1923 and said advanced storage and grid solutions would allow electricity to be shifted and used according to demand rather than consumed on generation. The minister urged self-reliance in manufacturing and said domestic production, though initially costlier, would lower costs over time and strengthen national energy security. He cited the One Sun, One World, One Grid vision and a proposed 1,600 km undersea cable to the UAE at an estimated cost of 400 billion (bn), and plans for links with Sri Lanka, Singapore and Europe. The Central Electricity Authority chair said India is targeting around 160 GW of storage by 2035 with roadmaps for battery and pumped hydro deployment.