Centre awards RIL full quota of Advanced Chemistry Cell under PLI-II

Oil to telecom behemoth Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has been awarded the complete capacity of the Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) offered under the second tranche of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The ministry of heavy industries (MHI) in a public announcement said the award followed the "Quality and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS) mechanism”.

By adding 10 GWh (gigawatt hour) of ACC capacity under the current phase, RIL now holds the highest capacity among all other players in the segment who participated in the PLI scheme with maximum budgetary outlay of Rs 3,620 crore.

The Centre launched the 50 GWh ACC PLI in 2021 with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore. In the first round of auctions in 2022, RIL’s subsidiary Reliance New Energy Solar Limited secured 5 GWh.

RIL is currently constructing an advanced chemistry-based battery manufacturing facility with a 30 GWh annual capacity in Jamnagar. Production is expected to begin in the second half of next year, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said during the company’s 47th annual general meeting (AGM).

PLI allocation supports Reliance’s efforts to scale up production to meet both domestic and global demand, while advancing its goal of transitioning towards green energy through focus on battery manufacturing and energy storage solutions.

The MHI received bids from seven companies — ACME Cleantech Solutions, Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies, Anvi Power Industries, JSW Neo Energy, Reliance Industries, Lucas TVS, and Waaree Energies — for 10 GWh of ACC manufacturing. The total capacity bid by these companies amounted to 70 GWh. After evaluating all seven bids, six companies were shortlisted for the financial evaluation stage, in accordance with the Request for Proposal (RFP) requirements.

The final evaluation was conducted using the QCBS mechanism, and the bidders were ranked based on their combined technical and financial scores. The MHI awarded the 10 GWh PLI ACC capacity to RIL, the highest-ranked bidder. The remaining five shortlisted bidders were placed on a waiting list according to their ranks. The waitlisted bidders are ACME Cleantech Solutions, Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies, Waaree Energies, JSW Neo Energy, and Lucas TVS, in that order. These players will be awarded capacity in case of refusal or failure to implement by RIL.

In May 2021, the government approved the technology-agnostic PLI scheme under the “National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage”, aiming to achieve a manufacturing capacity of 50 GWh of ACC with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore. The first round of bidding for ACC PLI concluded in March 2022, with four companies allocated a total capacity of 50 GWh. The programme agreements with the selected companies were signed in July 2022.

The 20 GWh capacity became available after Hyundai Motor Company clarified that Hyundai Global Motors was not authorized to use its trademark, leading to the cancellation of Hyundai Global Motors’ allocation. Initially, Hyundai Global Motors and Ola Electric were awarded 20 GWh each, while Rajesh Exports and Reliance New Energy Solar secured 5 GWh each in the 50 GWh auction.