EV, hydro boom to power 6x rise in battery storage by ‘47

India is preparing to meet a projected cumulative battery energy storage capacity of nearly 3 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2047 across electric mobility, power, and electronic components, according to two people aware of the development, with electric vehicles (EVs) expected to contribute a third of the demand.

- Manas Pimpalkhare & Rituraj Baruah

The ministry of new and renewable energy had earlier estimated in its Energy Storage Systems Overview a demand of about 2.3 TWh: 540 GWh from pumped-storage plants and 1,840 GWh from battery energy storage services.

The ministry of heavy industries (MHI) is overseeing the development of the ambitious plan in consultation with the ministries of power, new and renewable energy, and communications, the first person said.

“EVs and BESS (battery energy storage services) play a major role, but the country's demand for batteries will also grow due to other sectors, like data centres, for instance,” one of the officials cited above said on the condition of anonymity, adding that the idea was to check “if we were on track as per earlier estimates on the subject, and to see if any government intervention is required in the sector”.

India’s current energy storage capacity as of June 2025 is 490 MWh, according to estimates from the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). The new plan in the works would imply a 6x increase in capacity over the next 22 years.