The Central Electricity Authority (CEA)’s report titled “Roadmap to 100 GW of Hydro Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) by 2035-36” presents a comprehensive assessment of the current status of pumped storage development in the country, key policies, regulatory, institutional, and infrastructural measures necessary to facilitate timely and viable development of 100 GW of PSPs by 2035-36 i.e. in next 10 years. Presently, India’s pumped storage potential is about 267 GW, which includes 58 GW of on-stream PSPs and 209 GW of off-stream PSPs.
As on 31st December 2025, 10 Nos. of PSPs with installed capacity of 7 GW are in operation and 10 Nos. of PSPs with a total capacity of 12 GW are in the under-construction stage. Projects with DPRs concurred by CEA but yet to be started account for 9.6 GW. In the Survey & Investigation stage, 54 PSPs with a total installed capacity of 75 GW include 52 closed-loop PSPs designed exclusively for storage rather than river-dependent generation. This means the country has many suitable locations where PSPs can be built to store electricity on a large scale.
States like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh etc. offer good sites for such projects. Developing PSPs in these regions will help improve grid reliability, provide steady power during peak hours, reduce wastage of renewable energy, and support India’s growing energy needs in a clean and sustainable way.
The assessed PSP potential in India has shown a sharp and continuous increase over recent years, rising from about 97,565.6 MW as on December 31, 2022 to 124,290.6 MW as on December 31,2023, further to 183,330.6 MW as on December 31, 2024, and reaching 266,845.6 MW as on December 31, 2025. This significant year-on-year growth largely reflects the increasing identification of off-stream closedloop PSPs, which are predominantly self-identified by developers based on evolving technical, topographical, and commercial considerations. As a result, the total PSP potential is inherently dynamic.
Access the report here