Power Regulator
India has 1,236 MW of hydro capacity stalled, and the dominant reasons are not engineering failures. Litigation, financing freezes, and access constraints are keeping near-complete assets idle, raising uncomfortable questions for planners and lenders. This is exactly where the POWER REGULATOR view shifts from technology to governance.
A review of stalled projects shows courts and clearances as the primary choke points. Status quo orders, land disputes, and environmental litigation have blocked construction for years even where physical progress is substantial. Financing is the next barrier. Developers cite exhausted debt limits, lack of long-tenor funding, and lender reluctance to refinance hydro with unresolved legal and regulatory overhangs. Cost overruns, often delay-driven, erode viability and deepen stress. Access and evacuation dependencies add another layer, where roads and transmission linkages lag behind generation completion, leaving assets stranded and increasing the need for POWER REGULATOR attention on coordination.
In contrast, commissioning momentum returned in December 2025. Subansiri Lower and Tehri Pumped Storage units lifted FY26 hydro additions to 3,120 MW by end-December. But the state sector remains a drag, with multiple projects pushed into FY27 timelines.
The forward-looking pipeline tells a bigger story. Pumped storage is now nearly half of all hydro capacity under construction, with private developers leading PSP build-out and using flexibility value as the commercial anchor. This pivot toward storage will reshape dispatch patterns and planning assumptions, and it will increasingly sit under the POWER REGULATOR spotlight, Power Regulator, Stalled Hydro, India PSP, Hydro Commissioning, Grid Planning.
Read the full verified update on EnergylineIndia.com.
