The government has awarded 10-GWh Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) capacity battery unit to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) under production linked incentive (PLI) scheme based on the quality and cost-based selection (QCBS) mechanism.

ACC batteries are a new generation of energy storage technology that can store and convert electric energy and are used in a variety of applications, including electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy storage, consumer electronics, and power backup. The Centre had approved a National Programme on ACC battery storage to encourage the development of the battery storage ecosystem and electric mobility in India.

This scheme will strengthen the ecosystem for electric mobility and battery storage in the country. It envisages to enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities of ACC by setting up of Giga scale ACC and battery manufacturing facilities in India with emphasis on maximum domestic value addition. This scheme will promote Make in India initiative.

According to the scheme, the beneficiary firm has to ensure achieving a domestic value addition of at-least 25 per cent and raise it to 60 per cent within five years while also making the mandatory investment of Rs.225 crore/ GWh for committed capacity within two years. The scheme has initial two years of gestation period from the appointed date (AD) (January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024) and five years post gestation period (January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2029) as the ‘performance period’ by the government. Three beneficiary firms have been allocated total capacity of 30 GWh, which means. 20 GWh is now available for fresh allocation. 

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) said that all seven bids were evaluated, and six companies were shortlisted for financial evaluation, as per the requirements under the request for proposal (RFP). Accordingly, the financial bids for the qualified bidders were opened on August 2, after announcement of the results of technical evaluation, under transparent global tender process of RFP through the government’s portal.

The list of bidders who had submitted bids to this tender were Acme Cleantech Solutions Private Ltd, Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies Private Ltd, Anvi Power Industries Private Ltd, JSW Neo Energy Ltd, Lucas TVS Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, and Waaree Energies Ltd for a cumulative capacity of 70 GWh.

Round 1 of bidding

The first round of the ACC PLI bidding was concluded in March 2022, and three beneficiary firms were allocated a total capacity of 30 GWh, and the programme agreement with selected beneficiary firms was signed in July 2022.

The MHI had received bids under global tender for the re-bidding of PLI for 10 ACC manufacturing with maximum budgetary outlay of ₹3,620 crore, announced on January this year.

“This initiative is another step towards enhancing domestic manufacturing capacity, reducing import dependence, and positioning India as a global leader in ACC battery manufacturing,” said the MHI.

The PLI ACC scheme has been a success in terms of the bids received to manufacture ACCs in India, MHI added.

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