MAHIR | CPRI

The Ministry of Power and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have jointly launched a National Mission to quickly identify emerging technologies in the power sector and develop them indigenously, at scale, for deployment within and outside India. The National Mission, titled “Mission on Advanced and High-Impact Research (MAHIR)” aims to facilitate indigenous research, development and demonstration of the latest and emerging technologies in the power sector. By identifying emerging technologies and taking them to the implementation stage, the Mission seeks to leverage them as the main fuel for future economic growth and thus make India a manufacturing hub of the world.

An Office Memorandum has been issued by MoP to this effect, which can be accessed (link is external)here.

The Mission will be funded by pooling financial resources of the Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Central Public Sector Enterprises under the two Ministries. Any additional funding needed will be mobilized from Government of India's budgetary resources.

Planned for an initial period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28, the Mission will follow the technology life cycle approach of Idea to Product. Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), Bengaluru will provide all necessary secretarial assistance.

Mission Objectives

The key objectives of the Mission are as follows:

To identify emerging technologies and areas of future relevance for the Global Power Sector and take up indigenous end-to-end development of relevant technologies
To provide a common platform for Power Sector Stakeholders for collective brainstorming, synergetic technology development and devise pathways for smooth transfer of technology
To support pilot projects of indigenous technologies (developed especially by Indian Start-ups) and facilitate their commercialization
To leverage foreign alliances and partnerships to accelerate research & development of advanced technologies and to build competencies, capabilities and access to advanced technologies through bilateral or multilateral collaborations, thereby facilitating exchange of knowhow and Technology Transfer.
To seed, nurture and scale up scientific and industrial R&D and to create vibrant & innovative ecosystem in the Power Sector of the country
To make our Nation among the leading Countries in Power System related Technologies & Applications development

Research Domains in Focus

Alternatives to Lithium-Ion storage batteries
Geo-thermal energy
Carbon Capture & Utilization
Green hydrogen for mobility (High Efficiency Fuel Cell)
Automation and Artificial Intelligence: indigenous development of the eco-system
Two-shift operation of old coal based power plants

Brief Activities undertaken under the Mission

The 1^st Meeting of the Technical Scoping Committee (TSC) of MAHIR was held on 25^th July 2023 through video-conferencing mode.
Under the Chairmanship of Chairperson CEA, was held on 8^th August 2023 from 11:00 am through video-conferencing mode with the Directors of IITs/NITs, CMDs of CPSEs and representatives of IEEMA for discussion on the research areas and technologies that can be considered for development under the Mission.
The 2^nd Meeting of the Technical Scoping Committee of MAHIR with the nominated subject matter experts was held on 8^th December 2023 from 12:30 pm through video-conferencing mode.
The First Call for proposals for MAHIR has been advertised on CPRI website on 8^th Jan 2024.
The third meeting of the Technical Scoping Committee was conducted on 25th January 2024 for evaluation of shortlisted proposals.
The 4^th meeting of Technical Scoping Committee was held on 11th April 2024 for evaluation of shortlisted proposals.
A second call for proposal will be advertised soon.
The mission is also seeking inputs from the stakeholders of the Power Sector for Technologies that can be taken up for development under the Mission. The suggestions can be mailed to mvrao[at]cpri[dot]in / rnd[at]cpri[dot]in

Important Announcements

CALL FOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL UNDER THE “Mission on Advanced and High Impact Research (MAHIR)” (First Call)	Closed
The Project Investigators may kindly note that the proposals which have been rejected have been duly informed. If no rejection e-mail has been received then the proposal is under review.

(Note: The information presented on this page is revised in accordance with the progress of the Mission. We recommend that you visit regularly to stay informed about the latest updates.)