IndiGrid Switches On 250-MW / 500-MWh Battery at Bhadla, Rajasthan

• IndiGrid's 250-MW / 500-MWh standalone battery at Bhadla, Rajasthan, reached commercial operation on Oct. 27, 2026.
• The NVVN contract pays INR 236,999 per MW a month for 12 years, and a federal grant covers up to INR 230 crore.
• IndiGrid will now give minority partners British International Investment and KNI an exit, the filing said.

IndiGrid Infrastructure Trust's 250-MW / 500-MWh standalone battery in Rajasthan reached commercial operation on Oct. 27, according to a filing with Indian stock exchanges on Oct. 28.

The project belongs to Rajasthan BESS Pvt. Ltd. (RBPL), a special purpose vehicle of the trust. It feeds the 765-kV Bhadla-III pooling station, according to award details from NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN). IndiGrid won it in NVVN's first battery storage tender with viability gap funding (VGF). Its bid was INR 236,999 ($2,488) per MW a month. The letter of award was dated Nov. 22, 2024.

The battery runs on a build-own-operate basis. Its concession lasts 12 years from the commercial operation date, and the trust expects annual revenue of over INR 71 crore ($7.5 million). Its VGF grant covers 30% of the capital cost or INR 230 crore ($24 million), whichever is lower. Under the federal VGF scheme, 45% of that grant is paid at commercial operation, the Ministry of Power told parliament in April 2025.

The Bhadla battery in numbers

• 2 hours of storage at full output: 500 MWh divided by 250 MW (list.solar calculation).
• INR 5.92 crore ($622,000) a month in capacity payments, or INR 71.1 crore a year (list.solar calculation from the NVVN tariff).
• INR 853 crore ($90 million) over the 12-year concession if the tariff stays flat (list.solar calculation).
• Up to INR 103.5 crore ($10.9 million) of VGF due at commercial operation, 45% of the INR 230 crore cap (list.solar calculation).
• 13,200 MWh covered by the VGF scheme as of April 2025, up from 4,000 MWh, so this battery is about 3.8% of it (list.solar calculation).
• 236 GWh of battery storage needed by 2031-32, according to India's National Electricity Plan 2023.

RBPL was built in partnership with British International Investment and KNI India AS, a joint vehicle of Norfund and KLP, which hold minority stakes. IndiGrid's website names AmpereHour Energy as a development partner. IndiGrid commissioned a 20-MW / 40-MWh battery in South Delhi by March 31, 2025, and lists a 180-MW / 360-MWh Gujarat project as under construction. The trust also owns transmission lines and solar plants, and struck a 2025 deal for a ReNew solar park in Rajasthan.

With commercial operation reached, IndiGrid will give British International Investment and KNI an exit under their share purchase agreement, the filing said.