09-November-2026
On 4 November, the Union Cabinet approved ₹14,500 crore in viability gap funding to support 92 GWh of new grid-scale storage: 60 GWh of pumped hydro, 30 GWh of batteries and 2 GWh of emerging technologies. The official announcement specifies competitive bidding and a 40% minimum domestic content requirement for battery projects. Separately, the power secretary signalled on 5 November that state utilities would be required to add storage. The announcement gave no specific obligation or timetable for those utilities.
The Power Times asks: Who will pay to charge the storage, who will decide when it discharges, and how will customers know whether it reduced evening shortages? A project can meet its contractual capacity on paper and still fail to deliver where the grid is constrained.
The Power Times recommends that the Ministry of Power, state regulators and distribution companies publish the evening reliability problem each tender is meant to solve. Tenders should specify delivery hours, grid connection responsibilities and what happens when a project is unavailable during a contracted peak. The domestic content rules should also tell Indian suppliers what qualifies and how compliance will be verified. After commissioning, utilities should report actual evening delivery and availability.
Judge publicly supported storage by the dependable power it delivers when the system needs it most.
Suggested tags: Ministry of Power; Central Electricity Authority; Grid Controller of India; Central Electricity Regulatory Commission; Solar Energy Corporation of India; state electricity regulators and distribution companies.
