India's Pumped Storage Hydropower Expansion for Clean Energy Transition
This Government of India backgrounder details the critical role of pumped storage projects (PSPs) in supporting India's clean energy transition, with a target of 500 GW non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. As of July 2026, India has achieved 300 GW of installed non-fossil fuel capacity, having added 55.29 GW during FY 2025-26. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) projects a requirement of 73.93 GW of storage capacity by 2031-32, comprising 26.69 GW from PSPs and 47.24 GW from Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
Current Capacity and Development Pipeline
India currently has 7.43 GW of operational PSP capacity across 10 projects (with installed capacity above 25 MW) as of August 2026. An additional 15.87 GW across 11 PSPs is under construction/implementation, while 10.40 GW across 8 projects has been concurred or appraised by CEA. The country has identified 320 pumped storage projects with a combined potential of 345.38 GW, including 62 on-stream projects (56.67 GW) and 258 off-stream projects (288.71 GW).
Regional Capacity Distribution
The Western Region leads with 129.72 GW identified potential, primarily due to topographical features of the Western Ghats, with Maharashtra accounting for 67.36 GW and Gujarat for 33.36 GW. The Southern Region has 97.76 GW (led by Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu), Eastern Region 53.41 GW (including 41.53 GW in Odisha), Northern Region 50.32 GW (led by Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh), and North Eastern Region 14.18 GW.
Projected Capacity Addition Timeline
The CEA has mapped a detailed capacity addition pathway through 2035-36, with projects totalling 100.81 GW envisaged for commissioning. The cumulative PSP capacity is projected to reach 105.56 GW by 2035-36 from the current 4.745 GW (up to 2024-25). Specific annual additions include 2.68 GW in 2025-26, 2.92 GW in 2026-27, 1.6 GW in 2027-28, 6.35 GW in 2028-29, 13.5 GW in 2029-30, 21.19 GW in 2030-31, 8.8 GW in 2031-32, 14.59 GW in 2032-33, 11.88 GW in 2033-34, 5.7 GW in 2034-35, and 11.6 GW in 2035-36.
Policy and Regulatory Support Measures
The government has implemented comprehensive measures to accelerate PSP development, including: dedicated PSP Development Guidelines notified in April 2023; budgetary support for enabling infrastructure (roads, bridges, transmission lines); Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding Guidelines notified in February 2025; 100% ISTS charge waiver for 25 years for projects awarded by 30 June 2028; reduced DPR concurrence timelines from 90 to 50 days; streamlined environmental appraisal with B2 categorization for eligible projects; extended forest land survey provisions; and revised capital expenditure limit of ₹3,000 crore requiring CEA concurrence for hydro schemes (with off-stream closed-loop PSPs exempted entirely).
Global Context and Technical Specifications
Globally, pumped storage hydropower represents the world's most deployed large-scale energy storage with 159.8 GW capacity at end-2025. China leads with 66 GW, followed by Japan (22 GW), United States (19 GW), and India ranking fourth with 7.18 GW at end-2025 (increased to 7.43 GW by July 2026). PSPs are classified into three types: on-stream (both reservoirs on river/stream), off-stream open-loop (one reservoir on river), and off-stream closed-loop (neither reservoir on perennial watercourse).