Maharashtra RE & Storage Policy 2025–35: 65% Renewable Target and Mandatory BESS

Maharashtra is India's largest industrial state by GDP and one of the largest electricity markets in the country. Pune's automotive belt, Mumbai-MMR's commercial demand, Aurangabad's manufacturing clusters, and the Vidarbha region's heavy industries together consume hundreds of billions of units annually. How Maharashtra structures its renewable transition matters not just for the state but for India's overall clean energy trajectory.

In late 2025, the Government of Maharashtra notified the Renewable Energy and Storage Policy 2025–35 — a comprehensive ten-year framework that goes substantially further than most state RE policies in India. The policy combines an ambitious renewable share target, a mandatory storage requirement, and structural transmission charge incentives that together signal a clear direction: Maharashtra wants its renewable build-out to be storage-paired and grid-friendly from day one.

The policy at a glance

Three headline provisions define the new framework:

1. Renewable share target: 65% of total electricity consumption from renewable sources by financial year 2035–36.
2. Mandatory BESS: From April 2026 onwards, open access and captive renewable projects above 100 kW must include battery storage equal to 50% of installed capacity with 2-hour duration.
3. Transmission charge exemption: Energy drawn into storage within Maharashtra is exempt from transmission charges, encouraging in-state storage deployment.

65% renewable target by 2035–36

The 65% target is among the most ambitious sub-national renewable targets in India. For context, the national Renewable Consumption Obligation (RCO) trajectory aims at 43.33% by 2029–30 — Maharashtra is targeting 65% by 2035–36, a meaningfully higher trajectory.

The target applies to total electricity consumption in the state and is expected to be tracked across:

• MSEDCL, BEST, Tata Power, AEML and other distribution licensees
• Open access consumers in the state
• Captive plants and group captive arrangements
• Rooftop solar and behind-the-meter generation

For a state whose conventional power purchase profile has historically been thermal-heavy, hitting 65% in ten years requires roughly doubling existing renewable capacity additions, paired with substantial storage to make the variable supply usable.

The mandatory BESS provision

The most operationally consequential provision is the mandatory Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) requirement. Starting April 1, 2026, any new renewable open access or captive project in Maharashtra above 100 kW capacity must be paired with battery storage:

Parameter	Requirement
Threshold for applicability	Projects above 100 kW capacity
Minimum storage capacity	50% of installed RE generation capacity
Minimum storage duration	2 hours
Effective date	April 1, 2026

So a new 1 MW solar open access project for a Pune-based pharma manufacturer would need at least 500 kW / 1 MWh of BESS alongside the solar generation. For a 5 MW captive solar plant in Aurangabad, the requirement scales to 2.5 MW / 5 MWh of storage.

Transmission charge exemption for storage

To make the BESS requirement economically more palatable, the policy introduces an important incentive: energy drawn into BESS from the grid within Maharashtra is exempt from transmission charges.

This is significant because BESS, by its nature, charges and discharges multiple times. Without this exemption, every grid-to-battery cycle would attract transmission charges, eroding the economic case for storage. The exemption preserves the storage business case and explicitly encourages developers to locate BESS within Maharashtra rather than at distant locations.

Combined with India's broader push toward storage-paired renewable procurement at the central level (SECI tenders, CERC REC multipliers for BESS), Maharashtra is positioning itself to attract a disproportionate share of the country's incoming storage capacity.

What changes for C&I consumers

For Maharashtra-based industrial and commercial consumers, the new policy has several practical implications:

Higher upfront PPA tariffs — but firmed supply

BESS adds approximately ₹1.20–1.80 per unit to the levelised cost of a renewable PPA, depending on storage duration and battery chemistry. New renewable PPAs in Maharashtra signed from April 2026 onwards will price this in. Expect headline tariffs in the ₹4.50–5.50/unit range for hybrid solar+BESS, compared to ₹3.00–4.00/unit for pure solar previously.

The trade-off, however, is materially better supply quality: DSM exposure drops, capacity factors effectively rise (because storage extends usable generation into evening hours), and the PPA looks closer to a firm contract rather than an intermittent one.

Existing PPAs unaffected — for now

The BESS mandate applies prospectively to new projects, not retrospectively to existing PPAs. Consumers with pre-April-2026 open access or captive arrangements continue under their existing terms. However, expansion or renewal of these arrangements after April 2026 will trigger the BESS requirement.

Smaller projects (under 100 kW) remain exempt

Rooftop solar installations and small captive arrangements below 100 kW capacity are not covered by the BESS mandate. For SMEs and smaller C&I consumers, the policy effectively pushes them toward smaller behind-the-meter solutions rather than larger open access arrangements.

Captive economics remain superior to open access

Even with the BESS mandate adding to project capex, captive and group captive arrangements continue to deliver structurally lower landed costs than open access in Maharashtra. The CSS and Additional Surcharge exemption under Section 9 of the Electricity Act still applies — that fundamental advantage is unaffected by the new policy.

Maharashtra versus other states

Maharashtra's storage-mandated approach contrasts with most other Indian states, where storage remains voluntary. The closest parallel is Rajasthan, which mandated BESS for new RE projects above 5 MW in its 2025 GEOA framework — though Rajasthan's threshold is higher (5 MW vs 100 kW) and its storage ratio less prescriptive.

For C&I consumers operating across multiple states, this means procurement strategies need to be state-specific. A renewable PPA that works in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh under current rules may not be feasible in Maharashtra post-April 2026 without restructuring to include storage.

For Maharashtra-only industrial consumers, the policy creates a clear strategic imperative: lock in long-term renewable arrangements that include storage from the outset, and treat firmed renewable power as the new baseline — not as a premium product. The transition to a 65% renewable share over ten years is non-trivial, and consumers who move early will lock in capacity, tariffs, and grid connectivity at significantly more favourable terms than those who wait.