Ola Electric Mobility and Hyundai Global Motors Company are among the four companies that have been selected for incentives under the Government of India's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage.
Ola and Hyundai had applied with an expected capacity of 20 Gigawatt Hour (GWh). The other two companies that have been selected under the scheme are Reliance New Energy Solar (5GWh) and Rajesh Exports (5GWh).
- 10 companies had applied for the PLI scheme
- Program aims to facilitate battery storage demand creation
- Battery storage scheme aims for a manufacturing capacity of 50GWh
Interestingly, 10 companies had bid to qualify for the PLI scheme, of which nine companies were "found responsive and met the conditions of eligibility" as per the requirement under the Request for Proposal. Final evaluation of the selected bidders was carried out as per quality and cost based selection (QCBS) mechanism, and the bidders were ranked on the basis of their combined technical and financial score.
The ACC capacities have been allocated in order of their rank till a cumulative capacity of 50GWh per year, and the shortlisted bidders that have not been successful in securing allocation are placed under a waiting list. The companies who have been placed under the waiting list include Mahindra & Mahindra, Exide Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Amara Raja Batteries and India Power Corporation – for a cumulative bid of 68GWh.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries says the shortlisted companies will need to set up the manufacturing facility within two years, and the incentive will be disbursed thereafter over a period of five years on sale of batteries manufactured in India.
Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, the Union cabinet minister for heavy industries, said that many big companies are investing in EV manufacturing in India. "We should give them more encouragement and keep trying to make India a manufacturing hub.”
In a tweet, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said India has a strong government backing for electrification. "Today, 90% of global capacity is in China. We will reverse that and make India a global hub for EVs and cell tech," he added.
Making India globally competitive
The PLI scheme focusing on battery storage aims to achieve a manufacturing capacity of 50GWh of ACC for enhancing India’s manufacturing capabilities and puts emphasis to achieve greater domestic value addition, while, at the same time, ensure that the cost of battery manufacturing in India is globally competitive. The technology agnostic program allows the beneficiary firm to choose suitable advanced technology and the corresponding plant, machinery, raw material and other intermediate goods for setting up cell manufacturing facility to cater to any application.
The program envisages an investment that will boost domestic manufacturing and also facilitate battery storage demand creation for both EVs and stationary storage, along with development of a complete domestic supply chain and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country. The government expects that the PLI scheme will accelerate EV adoption, and hence, translate into net savings of Rs 2,00,000 crore-2,50,000 crore on account of oil import bill during the period of the programme, and increase the share of renewable energy at the national grid level.
Rivan RS 
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
