MAHIR: A Complete Guide to India's Power Sector Innovation Mission

India's power sector faces a distinctive innovation challenge: the technologies that will define its future, next generation energy storage, green hydrogen, carbon capture, geothermal energy, are largely being developed abroad, leaving India dependent on imported solutions for the very infrastructure underpinning its energy transition. Closing that gap needs more than incremental R&D. It needs a dedicated national mission specifically built to identify, fund, and scale emerging power sector technologies indigenously.

MAHIR, the Mission on Advanced and High Impact Research, is that mission. Jointly launched by the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, MAHIR aims to facilitate indigenous research, development, and demonstration of the latest and emerging technologies in the power sector, with the explicit goal of taking these technologies to implementation stage and positioning them as a key driver of India's future economic growth.

The Opportunity: What MAHIR Actually Offers

• Direct support for startup pilot projects: MAHIR is designed to support pilot projects of indigenous technologies developed by Indian startups and facilitate their commercialisation, with funding routed through Central Public Sector Enterprises under the two sponsoring ministries.
• A dedicated, initially eight area technology focus: the mission has identified priority research areas including alternatives to lithium ion storage batteries, modifying electric cookers and pans for Indian cooking methods, green hydrogen for mobility via high efficiency fuel cells, carbon capture, geothermal energy, solid state refrigeration, nanotechnology for EV batteries, and indigenous CRGO, cold rolled grain oriented, material technology.
• Pooled, multi source funding: the mission is funded by pooling financial resources from the Ministry of Power, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and the Central Public Sector Enterprises operating under both ministries, giving it a genuinely substantial and diversified funding base rather than relying on a single budget line.
• A structured, technology lifecycle approach: MAHIR follows an idea to product technology life cycle model, initially planned to run from 2023 24 to 2027 28, ensuring research proposals are tracked through to actual implementation rather than ending at the research paper stage.
• A two tier governance structure: a Technical Scoping Committee, led by the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority, identifies emerging global research areas and recommends potential technologies. An Apex Committee, chaired by the Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, then approves research proposals and monitors progress.
• A platform for international collaboration: where the Technical Scoping Committee recommends international collaboration for developing a particular technology, the Apex Committee takes this up directly with the collaborating country, giving MAHIR backed research access to global partnerships, not just domestic capability.
• Outcome linked funding structure: once research areas are identified and approved by the Apex Committee, proposals for outcome linked funding are invited from companies and organisations globally, meaning funding is tied to genuine research and commercialisation outcomes rather than disbursed purely on the basis of a proposal.
• A common platform for sector wide collaboration: MAHIR also aims to provide a shared platform for power sector stakeholders, including IITs, NITs, CPSE leadership, and industry bodies like IEEMA, for collective brainstorming and synergetic technology development.

Who is eligible

• Indian startups developing indigenous technologies aligned to MAHIR's identified priority research areas, seeking pilot project support and a pathway to commercialisation.
• Companies and organisations globally, where research proposals align with technology areas the Apex Committee has approved for outcome linked funding.
• Research institutions and technical experts, including those affiliated with IITs, NITs, and CPSEs, engaged through the Technical Scoping Committee's process of identifying research areas.
• Applicants whose work fits within one of the mission's approved focus areas, since MAHIR structures its calls for proposals around specific, pre identified technology areas rather than open ended applications.

How the process works

1. Track MAHIR's identified research areas and Apex Committee approved technology priorities. These are determined through the Technical Scoping Committee's ongoing review of global emerging research and are the basis for what gets funded.
2. Watch for MAHIR's Call for Proposals, published through channels like the Central Power Research Institute website, once a specific research area or technology has been approved by the Apex Committee.
3. Submit a proposal aligned to the specific technology and outcome targets defined for that call, since MAHIR's funding is explicitly outcome linked rather than purely proposal based.
4. Proposals are reviewed and approved by the Apex Committee, chaired by the Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, with the Technical Scoping Committee providing technical evaluation input.
5. If approved, funding flows through the sponsoring ministries and their Central Public Sector Enterprises, with the CPSEs playing a direct role in supporting the pilot and commercialisation stages of startup developed technologies.

The Institutions Powering MAHIR

MAHIR operates through a joint institutional structure spanning the Ministry of Power, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and the Central Public Sector Enterprises under both ministries. Its two tier governance, a Technical Scoping Committee led by the Central Electricity Authority's Chairperson, and an Apex Committee chaired by the Union Minister himself, gives the mission both deep technical evaluation capability and direct ministerial level oversight, a structure designed to move quickly from identifying a promising global technology trend to funding indigenous development of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of power sector technologies does MAHIR actually fund?

The mission's initial eight priority areas include alternatives to lithium ion batteries, Indian cooking adapted electric cookers, green hydrogen mobility and fuel cells, carbon capture, geothermal energy, solid state refrigeration, EV battery nanotechnology, and indigenous CRGO material technology, reflecting a deliberate mix of energy storage, clean energy, and materials innovation.

Is MAHIR only for large research institutions, or can startups actually access it?

Startups are explicitly named as a target beneficiary. The mission is designed to support pilot projects of technologies developed by Indian startups and help them reach commercialisation, with CPSEs playing a direct role in that support.

How is MAHIR funded?

Through pooled financial resources from the Ministry of Power, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and the Central Public Sector Enterprises operating under both ministries, giving it a diversified, multi source funding base rather than a single ministry budget.

How does MAHIR decide what technologies to fund?

Through a two tier process: the Technical Scoping Committee identifies emerging global research areas and recommends specific technologies, and the Apex Committee, chaired by the Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, approves the final research proposals and technology priorities.

Can international companies apply for MAHIR funding, or is it India only?

The mission does invite proposals for outcome linked funding from companies and organisations globally once a technology area is approved, and the Apex Committee can take up international collaboration directly with a partnering country where recommended, so MAHIR is not strictly closed to non Indian participation, though its core purpose is indigenous development.

The Bottom Line

MAHIR represents a genuinely ambitious bet: that India's power sector future depends on getting ahead of global emerging technology trends, energy storage alternatives, green hydrogen, carbon capture, geothermal, rather than importing them once they have matured elsewhere. Its outcome linked, two tier governance structure and direct CPSE funding pathway give it a distinctive shape compared to more conventional grant schemes, with startups specifically positioned to access pilot project support and a commercialisation pathway. For power sector innovators, the practical next step is tracking MAHIR's approved technology priorities and Calls for Proposals through the CPRI website, since funding here is tied to specific, ministry approved research areas rather than open, general purpose applications.