India’s Pumped Storage Pipeline Crosses 100 GW

Projects totalling 100.81 GW are envisaged for commissioning by 2035–36, taking cumulative capacity to 105.56 GW

India’s pumped storage development pipeline has crossed the 100 GW mark. According to a backgrounder released by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on 19 October 2026, pumped storage projects (PSPs) totalling 100.81 GW are envisaged for commissioning by 2035–36. Together with existing operational capacity, this would take the country’s cumulative pumped storage capacity to about 105.56 GW, positioning the technology as a central pillar of India’s long-duration energy storage strategy.

The capacity pathway is drawn from the Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) report, ‘Roadmap to 100 GW of Hydro Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) by 2035–36’, released in January 2026, which sets out the policy, regulatory, institutional and transmission measures needed to achieve the target within a decade.

Current Status of Development

As of August 2026, India has 7.43 GW of operational pumped storage capacity across 10 projects with an installed capacity above 25 MW. A further 15.87 GW across 11 projects is under construction or implementation, while 10.40 GW across eight projects has been concurred or appraised by the CEA and is awaiting the start of construction.

Citing data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), PIB noted that global installed pumped hydro capacity stood at 159.8 GW at the end of 2025. India ranks fourth globally, behind China (about 66 GW), Japan (about 22 GW) and the United States (about 19 GW).

Projects Under Construction

Private developers account for eight of the 11 under-construction projects, while state utilities APGENCO, KPCL and TANGEDCO are building the remaining 3.85 GW. Maharashtra hosts the largest share, including Torrent Power’s 3,000 MW Saidongar-1 (Karjat) project, JSW Energy’s 1,500 MW Bhavali project, Tata Power’s 1,000 MW Bhivpuri project and the 1,500 MW Tarali project. Other major projects include KPCL’s 2,000 MW Sharavathy and Greenko’s 1,600 MW Saundatti projects in Karnataka, Greenko’s 1,920 MW Gandhi Sagar project in Madhya Pradesh, and APGENCO’s 1,350 MW Upper Sileru project in Andhra Pradesh.

As per CEA’s project list, the first additions from this pipeline are expected in 2026–27, from Gandhi Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, Kundah (500 MW) in Tamil Nadu and Chitravathi (500 MW) in Andhra Pradesh.

Year-wise Capacity Addition Pathway

The CEA pathway is heavily weighted towards the end of the decade. Annual additions of 2.92 GW in 2026–27 and 1.6 GW in 2027–28 are expected to rise to 13.5 GW in 2029–30 and peak at 21.19 GW in 2030–31.

Year	Addition (GW)	Cumulative (GW)
Up to 2024–25	–	4.745
2025–26	2.68	7.425
2026–27	2.92	10.345
2027–28	1.60	11.945
2028–29	6.35	18.295
2029–30	13.50	31.795
2030–31	21.19	52.985
2031–32	8.80	61.785
2032–33	14.59	76.375
2033–34	11.88	88.255
2034–35	5.70	93.955
2035–36	11.60	105.555
Total	100.81

Source: PIB backgrounder (19 October 2026), based on CEA data

Expanding Resource Base

India has now identified 320 pumped storage sites with a combined potential of 345.38 GW, comprising 62 on-stream projects (56.67 GW) and 258 off-stream projects (288.71 GW). The CEA roadmap had placed the assessed potential at about 267 GW as of December 2025, attributing the sharp rise largely to developer-identified off-stream closed-loop sites, which are located away from rivers and can be executed faster with lower ecological impact.

The Western Region leads with 129.72 GW, driven by the steep topography of the Western Ghats, with Maharashtra at 67.36 GW and Gujarat at 33.36 GW. The Southern Region follows with 97.76 GW, led by Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The Eastern Region holds 53.41 GW, including 41.53 GW in Odisha, while the Northern and North Eastern Regions account for 50.32 GW and 14.18 GW respectively.

Why Storage Is Becoming Critical

India crossed 300 GW of installed non-fossil fuel capacity in July 2026, after adding around 55.29 GW in FY 2025–26, and is targeting 500 GW by 2030. The CEA projects a storage requirement of 73.93 GW by 2031–32, comprising 26.69 GW from PSPs and 47.24 GW from battery energy storage systems (BESS). Its roadmap further estimates that storage needs will rise from 62 GW in 2029–30 to 161 GW in 2034–35, with long-duration storage becoming critical beyond 2030. While BESS serves fast, short-duration requirements, PSPs provide large-scale, long-duration storage, making the two technologies complementary.

Policy Measures Driving Momentum

The Government has introduced a series of measures to accelerate PSP development:

Dedicated guidelines: The Ministry of Power notified guidelines to promote PSP development in April 2023, along with budgetary support for enabling infrastructure such as roads, bridges and transmission lines.
Competitive procurement: Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding guidelines, notified in February 2025, standardise procurement of storage capacity and stored energy from PSPs.
Transmission charge waiver: Projects awarded for construction by 30 June 2028 receive a 100% ISTS charge waiver for 25 years from commercial operation.
Faster approvals: DPR concurrence timelines have been cut from 90 to 50 days, and clearance of inter-state aspects is no longer required. Off-stream closed-loop schemes are exempt from CEA concurrence irrespective of capital cost.
Environmental appraisal: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change allows B2 categorisation for eligible projects, reduced baseline data requirements for off-stream schemes and expanded survey provisions in forest areas.
Digital monitoring: CEA’s Jal Vidyut DPR portal enables real-time tracking of survey and investigation activities.

Outlook

Crossing the 100 GW pipeline mark is a significant milestone, but the larger task lies in execution. With just 7.43 GW operational today, a substantial share of the pipeline must move from survey and appraisal into construction over the next few years to meet the 2035–36 timeline. Timely financing, land acquisition, equipment supply and transmission readiness will determine whether pumped storage can deliver the long-duration flexibility that India’s renewable-heavy grid will increasingly require.