New Delhi, Jan. 10 -- With battery storage seen as critical to India's renewable energy transition-spanning grid-scale storage and electric mobility-the government is considering a Rs.500-crore allocation in FY27 Budget to set up testing and certification infrastructure for battery energy storage systems (BESS), alongside support for research and development, said two people familiar with the matter. Given the infirm nature of wind and solar power-it is generated only when the wind blows and the sun shines-BESS can help store energy and feed electricity to the grid any time in a 24-hour cycle. The allocation is expected to go towards both setting up National BESS Testing and Safety Centers under National Accreditation Board (NABL) or the Bureau of Indian Standards and creating certification centres to certify prototypes for advanced chemistry cells. Battery-pack level testing which is done in case of electric vehicles would also be supported through the allocation. Furthermore, partnerships for R&D programmes are expected to be promoted between the industry, national laboratories, and Indian Institutes of Technology, or IITs, through multi-year grants. The proposed push from the government comes as India's battery storage needs are set to surge to about 175 GWh by 2032 from around 700 MWh as of 31 December. Industry body, India Energy Storage Alliance expects the capacity to rise to 5 GWh in 2026. Despite these ambitious targets, India lacks dedicated battery energy storage system testing and prototype centres. There's also a safety angle driving the need for such testing: there are several instances of overheating and fire in EVs. Testing and certification infrastructure would help maintain standards and assuage concerns over supply chain of such batteries. India's tropical climate and persistently high temperatures make batteries designed to global standards often unsuitable for local conditions. "Part of the Rs.500 crore can come through Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. With the growing battery storage capacity needs and plans to indigenize supply chains, national level testing and certification facilities will be important," said one of the two people cited earlier. The Centre takes final decision on many proposals closer to the Budget presentation date, which falls on 1 February. In September, the new and renewable energy ministry issued draft rules for testing and approval of batteries. The guidelines offer chemistry-specific construction needs, such as for lithium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries, and nickel-cadmium batteries. Queries to the ministries of heavy industries, new and renewable energy, and finance on Thursday remained unanswered till press time....