State-owned NHPC plans a significant boost in capital expenditure to accelerate its hydro and pumped storage project pipeline, signalling a major push for flexible renewable assets amid India’s growing energy needs.
State-owned NHPC is stepping up investment as it moves a larger pipeline of hydropower and pumped storage schemes towards execution, targeting capital expenditure of ₹15,000 crore in the current financial year. In a presentation to investors, the company said it has 8GW of hydro projects under construction, more than 10GW at the clearance stage and another 1.9GW at the survey and investigation stage, underlining a sizeable build-out pipeline.
The company also said it is developing pumped storage projects with 17.9GW of capacity at different stages of implementation, as India’s power sector looks for more flexible assets to balance growing renewable generation. NHPC’s operational hydroelectric capacity stands at 8,771MW across 24 power stations, giving it about 17% of the country’s installed hydro capacity. It also has 562MW of operating solar and wind assets, with 1,190MW of solar capacity under construction.
NHPC’s generation and earnings have both improved over the past year. Consolidated electricity generation rose 16% to 29,600 million units in FY26 from the previous year, helped by the commissioning of four 250MW units at the Subansiri Lower hydropower project, the largest such station in the country. The latest unit at Subansiri was commissioned in May 2026. The company also signed an agreement with the Arunachal Pradesh government for the 3,097MW Etalin hydropower project and said restoration work at the Teesta-V station in Sikkim, which was damaged in flash floods in 2023, has been completed, with commercial operations resuming in July 2026.
In the first quarter of FY27, revenue from operations rose 18.5% to ₹3,808.31 crore from ₹3,213.77 crore a year earlier, while net profit increased 4.15% to ₹1,178.09 crore from ₹1,131.16 crore. Earlier outlook material cited by market trackers suggested NHPC was preparing for a more aggressive commissioning cycle, with several major hydro schemes and new pumped storage projects expected to advance over FY27 as the company scales up spending and execution.
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