Reliance, Ola & Rajesh Exports sign program agreement under PLI scheme for battery manufacturing

Reliance New Energy Limited, Ola Electric Mobility and Rajesh Exports, the three selected bidders, signed the Program Agreement under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage on Thursday.

These companies will receive incentives under India's ₹ 18,100 crore program. In addition to the capacities allocated by the Ministry of Heavy Industries under the PLI Program, private players are expected to create battery manufacturing capacity to the tune of~95 GWh, the Ministry of Heavy Industries said in a press release on Friday.

In May 2021, the Union Cabinet had approved a National Programme on ACC Battery Storage for achieving the manufacturing capacity of 50 Giga Watt Hour (GWh) of ACC and 5 GWh of Niche ACC, with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore. The Ministry of Heavy Industries is overseeing its implementation. It is estimated that a direct investment of around Rs 45,000 crore in ACC Battery storage manufacturing projects will materialise as a result of this PLI scheme for ACC Battery storage.

The policy has been tailored to favour companies interested in electric mobility and renewable energy.

"This embarks a new chapter in India’s manufacturing industry as we set the vision for battery manufacturing and compete globally with other nations in this sunrise sector. This will be favorable to EV ecosystem and energy storage market as it will support the demand for EVs and renewable and attract investment in this sector," Union Cabinet Minister for Heavy Industries Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey said.

A total of 10 bids were received from companies with a manufacturing capacity of 128 GWh under the PLI Scheme of ACC Battery Storage. Under the ACC PLI program, the manufacturing facility would have to be set up within a period of two years. The incentive will be disbursed thereafter over a period of five years on the sale of batteries manufactured in India.