India preps to meet 6x surge in battery storage demand by 2047
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.
NEW DELHI : 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.
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.
The second person cited above said: “These are consultations for a long-term vision and, along with easing supply constraints, the aim is also to develop local manufacturing capacity in line with the projected demand."
According to the second person cited earlier, developing a local manufacturing ecosystem for the required demand would involve an estimated investment of $840 billion ( ₹75 trillion at current exchange rates), at an approximate cost of ₹2.5 crore per MWh of energy storage capacity.
China holds the dominant position in mining lithium and cobalt, which are essential in batteries, as well as battery components such as anodes and cathodes. India’s reserves on these are limited, although it has made some progress in assembling batteries from imported cells and from recycling old batteries.
The development comes at a time when the ambitious production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cells (ACCs) used in batteries failed to gain momentum as initially anticipated.
Queries emailed to the Union ministries of heavy industries, power, new and renewable energy, and communications remained unanswered till press time
What is being discussed
The officials cited earlier said the inter-ministerial discussions have centred on securing critical minerals, building midstream refining and component manufacturing capacity, scaling domestic battery and BESS component production, boosting R&D in advanced chemistries, strengthening recycling and circularity, and developing a skilled workforce.
One of the officials said the meetings also reviewed structural bottlenecks such as the absence of domestic reserves for lithium, cobalt, and nickel, China’s export controls on extraction technologies, long exploration-to-mining timelines, and the environmental impact of mining and processing.
The official added that India’s battery manufacturing ambitions face steep hurdles, including high technological complexity, capital-intensive manufacturing that depends on imported equipment, strong price competition from China, and heavy import reliance for raw materials.
Expert views
Alekhya Datta, director, electricity and renewable division, at The Energy Resources Institute (Teri) said: “Manufacturing challenges encompass insufficient domestic processing, key for value addition with graphite anode production a critical choke-point; only 5 GWh annual cell output lags 218 GWh demand by 2030." He added that with scaling up of capacity, the cost of battery storage is expected to come down, which may eventually enhance growth.
Debmalya Sen, president, India Energy Storage Alliance, however said that India has the capability to develop the local ecosystem for the project 3 TWh demand. “To achieve India’s ambitious target of 3 TWh domestic battery manufacturing capacity by 2047, it is imperative that the country develops a fully integrated and self-reliant supply chain for batteries. Currently, localization efforts are largely focused on assembling battery packs and containers within India." he said.
Sen added that India would need to scale up its mining of critical minerals and other upstream activities to achieve self-reliance.
Pratyush Sinha, vice president for special projects and Lohum, a critical mineral refining and battery recycling company, said India needs to form more domestic partnerships in the downstream stages of battery manufacturing and recycling.
“We need to learn from Japan and Korea here. There is a need for tight coupling of downstream and processing industries through preferential partnerships. This can create a flywheel effect for both to grow rapidly. A downstream industry reliant on imported minerals will leave Indian energy security in the same quagmire that we find ourselves in right now," he said.
Datta of Teri also pointed out the environmental concerns of the ambitious mining plans: “Environmental footprint is severe—per tonne of rare earth, mining can generate 1 tonne of radioactive residue, 9,600–12,000 m³ of waste gas, 75 m³ of wastewater and 13 kg of dust—making permitting and social acceptance difficult."
Further, he said mining bottlenecks include limited reserves—only 6% global lithium—environmental clearances delaying projects by 10-15 years, and low exploration funding, while adding that the royalty hikes announced this year aim to boost mining but face implementation hurdles.
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