India's Pumped Storage Hydropower Expansion for Clean Energy Transition

India is rapidly expanding its pumped storage hydropower capacity to support its clean energy transition, with the country having crossed 300 GW of installed non-fossil fuel-based electricity generation capacity as of July 2026. During FY 2025-26, India added approximately 55.29 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity toward its target of 500 GW by 2030. The Central Electricity Authority projects a requirement of 73.93 GW of total storage capacity by 2031-32, comprising 26.69 GW from Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) and 47.24 GW from Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

Current Capacity and Project Pipeline

As of August 2026, India has 7.43 GW of operational PSP capacity across 10 projects with installed capacity above 25 MW. An additional 15.87 GW across 11 PSPs is under construction and implementation, while 10.40 GW across 8 projects has been concurred or appraised by the Central Electricity Authority. The development pipeline spans all five regions of India with varying stages of development.

Regional Potential and Projections

India 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). The Western Region has the highest identified potential at 129.72 GW, primarily due to topographical features and steep gradients of rivers originating from the Western Ghats, with Maharashtra accounting for 67.36 GW and Gujarat for 33.36 GW. The Southern Region has 97.76 GW potential, the Eastern Region 53.41 GW, the Northern Region 50.32 GW, and the North Eastern Region 14.18 GW.

The Central Electricity Authority has mapped a capacity addition pathway projecting 100.81 GW of new PSP capacity to be commissioned by 2035-36, taking cumulative PSP capacity to 105.56 GW. The year-wise projections show: 2.68 GW addition in 2025-26 (7.425 GW cumulative), 2.92 GW in 2026-27 (10.345 GW), 1.6 GW in 2027-28 (11.945 GW), 6.35 GW in 2028-29 (18.295 GW), 13.5 GW in 2029-30 (31.795 GW), 21.19 GW in 2030-31 (52.985 GW), 8.8 GW in 2031-32 (61.785 GW), 14.59 GW in 2032-33 (76.375 GW), 11.88 GW in 2033-34 (88.255 GW), 5.7 GW in 2034-35 (93.955 GW), and 11.6 GW in 2035-36 (105.555 GW).

Government Policy Initiatives

The Government of India has implemented comprehensive measures to promote PSP development, including dedicated PSP Development Guidelines notified by the Ministry of Power in April 2023. Key initiatives include budgetary support for enabling infrastructure (roads, bridges, transmission lines), Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding Guidelines notified in February 2025, 100% ISTS charge waiver for PSPs awarded by 30 June 2028 (applicable for 25 years from commercial operation), reduced Detailed Project Report concurrence timelines from 90 days to 50 days, streamlined environmental appraisal with B2 categorization for eligible projects, extended forest land survey provisions, and digital project monitoring through the Jal Vidyut DPR portal. Additionally, the government revised the capital expenditure limit requiring CEA concurrence to ₹3,000 crore for hydro generating stations and exempted off-stream closed-loop PSPs from CEA concurrence regardless of capital expenditure.

Global Context and Technical Aspects

Globally, pumped storage hydropower is the most widely deployed form of large-scale energy storage with 159.8 GW installed capacity at the end of 2025. China leads with nearly 66 GW, followed by Japan (22 GW) and the United States (19 GW). India ranks fourth globally with 7.18 GW at end-2025, increasing to 7.43 GW by July 2026. PSPs are classified into three types: on-stream (both reservoirs on rivers/streams), off-stream open-loop (one reservoir on watercourse), and off-stream closed-loop (neither reservoir on perennial watercourses).