India approves ₹1.86 lakh crore renewable power corridor with battery storage

India’s Union Cabinet has approved the ₹1.86 lakh crore third phase of the Green Energy Corridor, a transmission and storage programme intended to improve the delivery of renewable electricity across the country. The plan allocates about ₹1.36 lakh crore to intra-state transmission systems and ₹50,000 crore for 50 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage. The project is designed to move power from renewable-rich States to industrial and urban centres where demand is concentrated.

The government will provide total central financial support of ₹54,082 crore. The programme also includes viability-gap funding, a mechanism intended to attract private investment and support storage deployment at scale. The corridor is targeted for completion by the 2032-33 financial year and is designed to evacuate up to 135 GW of renewable power.

Battery storage is expected to help manage intermittency, congestion, peak-hour curtailment and demand during periods when solar generation is unavailable. The project responds to the geographic gap between renewable generation and electricity consumption. Solar and wind projects are concentrated in resource-rich areas, while demand is spread across industrial and urban centres.

Without adequate transmission, additional generation can face congestion or curtailment. Earlier phases provide both a foundation and a warning for the new programme. The first phase planned transmission capacity to support 24 GW, while the second targeted 20 GW.

Together, the two phases had integrated 26 GW against a planned 44 GW, according to the supplied material. The third phase will involve the renewable-energy ministry, the Central Electricity Authority, transmission utilities and grid operators. The source also identifies financing, procurement, cost recovery and coordination as key challenges for implementation.