The Centre plans to mandate energy storage for power distributors buying renewable electricity, targeting final rules by March 2027.

Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal shared the plan on Thursday at the Bharat Renewable Energy Summit in New Delhi.

The rule would cover licensed utilities, and renewable energy developers would also have to build storage into their projects.

Discoms are the companies that deliver electricity to homes and shops. Storage means large batteries or similar systems that hold extra power for later.

The idea is simple. Storage soaks up surplus green power and releases it when demand rises. It also helps existing power lines carry more of that electricity.

About 11% of the solar power generated in the hottest months this year was lost because of grid restrictions, even though electricity demand hit a record.

The exact requirement is not settled yet. Earlier proposals looked at storage of 10% or 20% of capacity, each good for two hours. The final number is still open.

Existing advice for developers to add storage will turn into a binding rule.

The government expects stakeholder consultations and the final notification to wrap up within three months, by the end of the current financial year.

Funding is already moving. On 4 November, the Union Cabinet approved Rs 14,500 crore in viability gap funding, which is government support that makes projects financially workable.

It is meant to back 92 GWh (a measure of stored energy) of new storage by FY31, made up of 60 GWh of pumped hydro, 30 GWh of batteries and 2 GWh of newer technologies.

The estimated total investment for these projects is Rs 97,600 crore. The new capacity equals about 170% of the grid storage India has today.

Battery projects must use at least 40% Indian-made content. The government says the country will need 411 GWh of grid storage by 2031-32.

Storage capacity will go through competitive bidding, and both public and private discoms can apply for the funding.

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