India BESS Tender Watch: Week of August 3–10, 2026

Battery energy storage keeps dominating India's clean-power procurement calendar. This week alone, SECI, NTPC Green Energy, a Bihar state generator, and a Rajasthan discom all put new battery storage capacity out to bid, while Telangana and Odisha wrapped up auctions that handed fresh capacity to Coal India, Onward Solar Power, and Juniper Green Energy. Here's the roundup.

New Tenders Issued This Week

SECI — 100 MW Solar + 120 MWh BESS PMU Package, Chhattisgarh The Solar Energy Corporation of India invited bids on August 6 for procurement, installation, testing, commissioning, and integration of a Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) at its 100 MW solar-plus-40 MW/120 MWh BESS project in Rajnandgaon district, Chhattisgarh. This is a balance-of-system package layered onto an already-awarded hybrid project rather than a new generation tender, but it signals SECI is moving that project toward commissioning.

NTPC Green Energy — 800 MW/3,300 MWh BESS EPC, Khavda, Gujarat NTPC Green Energy Limited (NGEL) floated a turnkey EPC tender for an 800 MW/3,300 MWh battery storage system across four blocks at NTPC Renewable Energy Limited's Khavda hybrid park in Gujarat — one of the largest single BESS EPC packages issued in India this year. The scope covers design, supply, installation, and a 15-year O&M commitment, with bidders required to meet specified net-worth and technical experience thresholds.

Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited (BSPGCL) — 150 MW Solar + 75 MW/300 MWh BESS BSPGCL invited bids to select developers for a combined 150 MW solar PV plus 75 MW/300 MWh BESS project in Bihar. Bid submission closes August 21, 2026. This continues Bihar's push to pair new solar capacity with firm, dispatchable storage rather than procuring standalone plants.

Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (JdVVNL), Rajasthan — 150 MW/600 MWh Decentralised Pilot BESS Rajasthan's JdVVNL is tendering a pilot, small-scale, decentralised BESS program: 150 units of 1 MW/4 MWh each, split into 12 packages, to be built under a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model. Bids are due August 12, 2026. Unlike the large centralised projects above, this is aimed at distribution-level grid support rather than bulk energy arbitrage.

POWERGRID — 250 MW/1,000 MWh Standalone BESS (Stage 1) Power Grid Corporation of India invited bids for up to 250 MW/1,000 MWh of four-hour standalone battery storage under a long-term transmission-linked framework, open pan-India. Stage 1 bids are due and open on August 17, 2026. This follows POWERGRID's earlier 500 MW/1,000 MWh and 3 GWh (West Bengal) storage tenders.

Tender Winners This Week

Coal India — 187.5 MW/750 MWh, Choutuppal, Telangana Coal India Limited (CIL) secured the EPC award from Telangana Power Generation Corporation (TGGENCO) for a 187.5 MW/750 MWh BESS plant at Choutuppal, at a tariff of ₹3.14 lakh/MW/month and an estimated project cost of ₹1,057 crore. The project runs on a Build-Own-Operate model with a 15-year term, is eligible for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) at ₹18 lakh/MWh, and must be commissioned within 18 months of the BESS Purchase Agreement (BESPA) being signed. This was part of a larger 375 MW BESS capacity auction that TGGENCO ran in Telangana.

Coal India and Onward Solar Power — 125 MW/500 MWh, Odisha SECI's auction for six standalone BESS units in Odisha (five of 20 MW/80 MWh and one of 25 MW/100 MWh, cumulative 125 MW/500 MWh) closed with Coal India and Onward Solar Power named as winners. Projects are BOO-model, VGF-supported at ₹18 lakh/MWh, with an 18-month commissioning timeline from the BESPA effective date.

Juniper Green Energy — 230 MW, SECI 1,000 MW Renewable Tender Juniper Green Energy won a 230 MW allocation under SECI's broader 1,000 MW renewable energy tender at a competitive tariff, adding to its firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) portfolio. (Reported this week; capacity mix between generation and storage per SECI's tender structure was not fully broken out in available reporting.)

The Bigger Picture

Two structural shifts stand out this week. First, size is scaling up fast — NTPC's 3,300 MWh Khavda EPC tender dwarfs most standalone BESS auctions issued in India to date, and POWERGRID's transmission-linked storage program continues to grow in parallel. Second, Coal India has emerged as one of the most aggressive new entrants in BESS, picking up awards in both Telangana and Odisha within weeks of each other — a notable diversification move for a company historically defined by coal mining. Separately, Ola Electric and Axis Energy announced a memorandum of understanding this week to jointly develop up to 20 GWh of battery storage by 2032, signalling that private, non-utility capital is starting to line up behind India's storage buildout alongside PSU-led tenders.