The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has greenlighted Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of six pumped hydro storage projects (PSPs) with a total capacity of 7.5 GW.

The DPRs for the following projects were approved:

• Upper Indravati (600 MW) in Odisha
• Sharavathy (2,000 MW) in Karnataka
• Bhivpuri (1,000 MW) in Maharashtra
• Bhavali (1,500 MW) in Maharashtra
• MP-30 (1,920 MW) in Madhya Pradesh
• Chitravathi (500 MW) in Andhra Pradesh

The DPRs were approved in fast-track mode by the appraising organizations, the Central Water Commission, the Geological Survey of India, and the Central Soil and Materials Research Station.

The CEA has set a target to approve a minimum of 13 PSPs of about 22 GW during 2025-26. Most of these PSPs are targeted to be commissioned in four years and, at the latest, by 2030.

Considering the self-identified PSPs from the private sector, the PSP potential in the country has crossed 200 GW, increasing almost every month.

Currently, the country has an operational PSP capacity of 3.5 GW. Two PSPs of around 3 GW will be commissioned this year, and around 50 GW PSPs will be commissioned by 2032.

Eight projects of 10 GW are under construction, and DPRs have been approved for three projects of around 3 GW.

In addition to this, 49 projects of 66 GW are under survey and investigation. All these DPRs are expected to be finalized by the developers in two years.

The CEA approval was facilitated by the appraisal process through the Jalvi Store portal.

In February 2025, the Ministry of Power issued new tariff-based competitive bidding guidelines to procure stored energy from existing, under-construction, or new PSPs.

In October 2024, the Ministry modified the provision of budgetary support for hydroelectric and PSPs with a total outlay of ₹124.6 billion (~$1.48 billion). The ministry will support projects with a cumulative hydroelectric capacity of 31 GW, including 15 GW of PSP capacity from the financial year 2024-25 to 2031-32.