MoEF&CC that a report by NITI Aayog under the heading "Energy Storage System - Roadmap for India: 2019-2032" (as in the web link below) has deemed it necessary to put batteries as the first  choice for most applications; clearly ahead of PSPs.  The executive summary of this report says among other things: "  ....However, the fast pace of developments taking place in the battery technologies and the consequent price competitiveness have put batteries as the first choice for most applications. Few PHS (or PSP) plants in India (cumulative capacity: 5.7GW) have been identified a long time back, but these projects have not made any progress in the past two decades owing to a variety of issues. Hence, the PHS (or PSP) plants are not considered in this report."    
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Energy Storage System-Roadmap for India: 2019-2032
https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2019-10/ISGF-Report-on-Energy-Storage-System-%28ESS%29-Roadmap-for-India-2019-2032.pdf

A ‘UNESCO Protected Biosphere Reserve’ tag alone may not be adequate to protect our fast deteriorating basket of natural resources in the country.  The high GDP growth rate paradigm adopted by the successive governments have rendered even the Protected Areas (PA) open for exploitation in the name of development projects, even though most of them may not be needed, or have benign alternatives. 
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NCR citizens seek ‘UNESCO Protected Biosphere Reserve’ tag for Aravallis
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/ncr-citizens-seek-unesco-protected-biosphere-reserve-tag-for-aravallis/article70471397.ece 
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As per media reports, a study of the PARIVESH portal of MoEF&CC has indicated that about 85% of all the project proposals before MoEF&CC, seeking diversion of forest lands even within PAs and the associated buffer zones, have been approved between a time period 2014 and 2018; which may also indicate the highly troublign scenario of thousands of Hectares of natural forest cover getting destroyed in about 20 years, despite the fact that the country has only about 22% of the land area covered by forest & trees, as compared to the national forest policy target of 33%.

TN picks ‘least-impact’ site for Upper Bhavani pumped storage project
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2026/Jan/05/tn-picks-least-impact-site-for-upper-bhavani-pumped-storage-project  

A Trump campaign veteran coordinated Indian diplomatic meetings, flagged social media posts and tracked trade talks, showing the central role of a lobbying firm in India-US interactions during a tense period in 2025. https://thewire.in/diplomacy/meetings-more-meetings-social-media-flags-trade-talks-inside-the-extensive-role-of-a-lobbyist-in-india-us-relations 

A Foreign Agents Registration Act filing submitted December 7, 2025, reveals that for six months, spanning India’s biggest military confrontation with Pakistan in decades as well as the fraught trade negotiations with the Trump administration, the Indian Embassy effectively outsourced nearly all diplomatic contacts to a lobbying firm.

The filing documents at least 60 contacts between Miller’s firm and US government officials, from cabinet secretaries to White House chiefs of staff to Fox News anchors. The filing was first posted by an X user on January 4.

India has so far paid Miller’s firm US $900,000 for six months of work, split into two payments of US $450,000 each on April 25 and July 28, in 2025. The total contract is for US $1.8 million for the year.

Miller was a senior communications adviser and one of the most visible spokespersons during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, who later served as a senior adviser in the 2020 and 2024 campaigns. After Trump’s return to office in January 2025, Miller landed the Indian government as his first – and only – disclosed client.

by Devirupa Mitra

07/01/2026