Pumped Storage Plants in India: Assessing Policies and Progress

The paper presents the evolution of policy on pumped storage plants (PSPs) and their performance in India. It builds a dataset of PSP projects from the information published by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and the CapEx dataset maintained by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Participation of the private sector in the development of PSPs has increased considerably since 2018. Out of the 130 GW capacity that is under stages of planning, 102 GW is being developed by the private sector. However, the ratio of projects which receive concurrence and are eventually completed remains low. Of the 91 projects in the dataset, 17 are under implementation and six have been completed. The completed projects account for 3.3 GW of storage capacity. The low ratio of PSPs that are completed, combined with the experience of delay in executing hydropower projects, implies that the requirements of storage capacity addition from PSPs by 2026-27 and 2031-32 will be met only if the capacity under planning is realised and the projects are completed within six years.

CITATION

Upasa Borah & Chitrakshi Jain & Renuka Sane, 2025. “Pumped Storage Plants in India: Assessing Policies and Progress,” Working Papers 12, Trustbridge Rule of Law Foundation.

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