Government announces re-bidding under PLI for the production of advanced chemical cells

In India's Rs 18,100 crore project to increase domestic battery cell production, the government announced the re-bidding of production-linked incentives for 20 GWh Advanced Chemistry Cell manufacturing. Before the rebidding process for the final 20 GWh of capacity begins, the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) will host a stakeholder engagement with industry representatives on July 24, 2023.

"The ministry is committed to completing the bid documents and starting the rebidding process as soon as possible." The potential candidates can submit their bids through this auctioning procedure in order to establish a domestic manufacturing facility for advanced chemistry cells, which will enable them to be eligible for incentives under the ACC PLI scheme.

The latest generation of advanced storage technologies, known as ACCs, may store electrical energy as chemical or electrochemical energy and then transform it back into electrical energy as needed. These have important uses in maintaining grid stability, solar rooftops, consumer electronics, and electric vehicles. Energy storage is anticipated to play a significant part in the overall energy ecosystem given India's commitment to renewable energy and its goal of becoming net-zero by 2070.

With a financial outlay of Rs 18,100 crore, the government approved the PLI programme known as the "National Programme on ACC Battery Storage" in order to increase production capabilities by establishing a manufacturing capacity of 50 Giga Watt Hours (GWh) of ACC. The government's priority under the project is to increase domestic value addition while also making sure that India's levelized cost of battery production is competitive on a global scale.