Tata Power’s next big bet: Batteries, solar manufacturing and a 10 GW Odisha plant

Tata Power plans to expand its portfolio of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and will bid aggressively for large battery storage projects coming up this year. It will also begin work later this month on a 10 GW ingot and wafer manufacturing plant in Odisha.

With renewable energy curtailment continuing because of a shortage of evacuation infrastructure, the company is investing in BESS projects. Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha said curtailment stood at 8% in Q2FY27, and there is an urgent need to build more BESS projects.

“There are large bids for BESS projects coming up in 4-5 weeks and we will bid in many projects. Due to curtailment, it's important to put up BESS plants. Even on a merchant basis, we are examining plants with enough land for putting up BESS projects,” Sinha said while speaking after the company’s second-quarter results.

Tata Power has been scaling up its storage ambitions nationwide. In July 2025, it signed its first stand-alone Battery Energy Storage purchase agreement with NHPC for the Kerala State Electricity Board, to install a 30 MW/120 MWh BESS at the Areacode substation, providing four hours of backup power.

The Kerala project builds on Tata Power’s successful delivery of India’s largest solar-plus-BESS project in Chhattisgarh in 2024. The ₹945 crore project, built for the Solar Energy Corporation of India, has a 100MW solar plant and a 120MWh BESS.

Tata Power has also approved an investment of ₹11,871 crore in a 1,800 MW pumped storage project (PSP) at Shirwata in Maharashtra, according to an exchange filing dated November 11.

Renewable business push

Clean and green capacity will account for at least 70% of Tata Power’s overall capacity by 2030. The company has been expanding its renewable business, which comprises 5.6 GW of solar and 1.3 GW of hydro capacity.

Revenue from the renewable business was ₹3,746 crore, up 3.7% year-on-year. Revenue from the solar manufacturing business rose 23% year-on-year to ₹2,180 crore, while EBITDA rose 11% to ₹512 crore. Profit after tax increased 16% to ₹276 crore.

The company is focusing on backward integration of its solar manufacturing business. It will begin work this month on its ₹6,675 crore, 10 GW ingot-and-wafer manufacturing plant in Gopalpur, Odisha.

“We will start the work in the latter part of this month with all clearances in place. The first phase is expected to start operations in calendar year 2028,” said Sinha.

India depends heavily on China for the ingots and wafers used in solar cell manufacturing, and Indian companies are now focusing on making them domestically.

A deficit in monsoon rainfall, along with high summer temperatures, spiked power demand in H1FY27, helping power companies post profits. Tata Power’s second-quarter consolidated net profit rose 48.6% year-on-year to ₹1,366 crore, compared with ₹919 crore a year earlier.

Revenue increased 27.1% to ₹19,636 crore, while EBITDA rose 11.1% to ₹3,667 crore. However, the EBITDA margin narrowed to 18.7% from 21.2% a year earlier. The company attributed the growth to its Mundra operations, renewables business, Mumbai transmission business and Odisha distribution companies.