India Battery Storage Tenders: SECI BESS Tracker (2026)

Last updated: 8 October 2026 · Last verified: 8 October 2026

India’s Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is running several parallel battery energy storage system (BESS) tenders, from a newly issued 800 MW/3,200 MWh standalone round to a just-awarded 125 MW/500 MWh project in Odisha. This page tracks SECI’s active and recently concluded storage tenders, who won, and what’s next.

SECI Battery Storage Tenders: Current Status

SECI-ESS-IV: India’s Latest Large Standalone BESS Round

SECI issued the SECI-ESS-IV tender on 1 October 2026, seeking battery energy storage system developers (BESSDs) to build 800 MW/3,200 MWh of standalone BESS capacity — four hours of discharge at full output. Projects can be sited anywhere in India under a build-own-operate model, with a minimum individual project size of 50 MW/200 MWh.

• Format: tariff-based competitive bidding for on-demand energy supply, run through online bidding followed by an e-reverse auction.
• Renewable charging requirement: at least 51% of the electricity used to charge the BESS must come from renewable sources.
• Availability guarantee: developers must guarantee a minimum system availability of 85% on a monthly basis.
• Developer obligations: land, grid connectivity, statutory approvals, interconnection and operations & maintenance all fall to the developer.
• Financial terms reported: a tender document fee of ₹59,000, bid-processing fee of ₹20,000/MW (capped at ₹20 lakh), earnest money deposit of ₹7.184 lakh/MW, and performance bank guarantee of ₹17.96 lakh/MW for selected bidders — figures as reported by trade press; the dates for offline submission differ slightly between sources (3 Nov vs. a shorter window), so bidders should confirm against SECI’s official request-for-selection document.

Odisha 125 MW/500 MWh: From Tender to Award

SECI’s Odisha standalone BESS tender, issued under tariff-based competitive bidding with viability-gap funding (VGF) support from the Power System Development Fund, concluded in March 2026. Coal India won two 40 MW/160 MWh clusters at tariffs of ₹3.04 lakh and ₹3.05 lakh per MW per month, respectively — the lowest in the auction — while Onward Solar Power won the remaining 45 MW/180 MWh at ₹3.75 lakh per MW per month. The projects sit at six state transmission utility substations (Padampur, New Bolangir, Bhatli, Basta, Narendrapur and Tentuli Khunti), with GRIDCO as offtaker.

GRIDCO subsequently issued a letter of award to Coal India; trade press reports differ on whether that covers a single 40 MW/160 MWh project or a combined 80 MW/320 MWh across both clusters, a discrepancy this page will resolve once SECI or GRIDCO publishes a consolidated award notice. Coal India has since floated its own separate EPC tender for 80 MW/320 MWh of BESS equipment in Odisha, with bids due 9 October 2026 — a downstream procurement step, not a new SECI award.

Why SECI Is Running So Many Storage Tenders at Once

India tendered roughly 3.16 GW of energy storage capacity in August 2026 alone, an increase of about 85% both year-on-year and month-on-month, according to IEEFA figures covering all Indian storage tenders (not SECI alone). The scale reflects India’s push to firm up its fast-growing solar and wind fleet: earlier in 2026, India approved a $19 billion plan for Green Energy Corridor Phase 3 to clear grid bottlenecks for 135 GW of renewables, and standalone storage tenders are a parallel track for balancing that capacity on a daily cycle rather than waiting for transmission build-out alone.

What’s Next

SECI-ESS-IV’s techno-commercial bids are scheduled to open in early November 2026; this page will be updated with qualified bidders and, later, the award once SECI publishes results. The short-term 50 MW/100 MWh ESPA award (for operational projects only, covering a one-year supply contract from November 2026) is also pending.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SECI-ESS-IV?
SECI-ESS-IV is a tender issued by India’s Solar Energy Corporation of India on 1 October 2026 for 800 MW/3,200 MWh of standalone battery energy storage capacity, open to developers anywhere in India.

Who won SECI’s Odisha battery storage tender?
Coal India and Onward Solar Power. Coal India won two 40 MW/160 MWh clusters; Onward Solar Power won the remaining 45 MW/180 MWh, with results announced around 2 March 2026.

When is the deadline for SECI’s 800 MW BESS tender?
Online bids are due 30 October 2026, with offline submission and techno-commercial bid opening following in early November 2026, according to trade-press reporting; developers should confirm exact dates against SECI’s official RfS document.

How much battery storage has India tendered in 2026?
India tendered about 3.16 GW of storage capacity in August 2026 alone, up roughly 85% year-on-year, per IEEFA — a figure covering all Indian storage tenders, not SECI alone.

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Sources

• TaiyangNews / Now.Solar, coverage of SECI’s 800 MW/3,200 MWh standalone BESS tender (SECI-ESS-IV), October 2026.
• Energetica India, coverage of SECI’s 800 MW BESS and 60 MW solar tender invitation, October 2026.
• Mercom India, “Coal India and Onward Solar Win SECI’s 125 MW/500 MWh Standalone BESS Auction,” March 2026.
• Renewable Watch, “SECI announces results of 125 MW/500 MWh standalone BESS auction,” 2 March 2026; and “SECI issues tender to develop 125 MW/500 MWh standalone BESS,” 22 December 2025.
• IEEFA, Indian energy storage system tender tracking note, September 2026 (ESSjmk-0926).
• Construction World / Energetica India, coverage of Coal India’s 80 MW/320 MWh EPC tender in Odisha, October 2026.

Illustrative image. Photo: Kecko from Eastern Switzerland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source