Mounting a metal ballast enclosure to a grounded surface is not atypical.

There should be a toothed lock washer between the ballast and a grounded mounting surface.

I have never seen a ground wire factory wired to a 1000w HPS ballast. The ground wire is usually part of the fixture itself, not the ballast. The ballast is then bolted to the grounded fixture housing. 1000w hps fixtures aren't normal household fixtures. It sounds to me this might be more than a home project. I'm thinking commercial electrical. Make sure you are legally allowed to work on this equipment. The fact that you don't even know how to wire the ballast kit leads me to believe you might want to call a professional. If not for legal reasons, at least for the sake of safety.

1000 watt HPS ballast kits are mostly sold for home use for "indoor agricultural" grow-light applications - you know the kind often found in basements.

The kit should have come with some kind of wiring information. Regardless, the components should be in a shielded metal enclosure for interference and the enclosure should be grounded. The transformer mounting tabs should also be properly mounted to the enclosure to provide a ground for the transformer core, as well.

The tape was probably just used for shipping.