Govt announces re-bidding under PLI for advanced chemistry cell production

The government on Thursday announced the re-bidding of production linked incentives for 20 GWh Advanced Chemistry Cell manufacturing -- India's Rs 18,100-crore programme to boost local battery cell production.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) will facilitate a stakeholder consultation with industry representatives on July 24, 2023 for their inputs and suggestions before the start of the re-bidding process of remaining 20 GWh capacity.

"The ministry is committed to finalize the bidding documents and proceeding with the rebidding process at the earliest," an official statement said.

With this auctioning process, the prospective applicants can submit their bids to set up domestic manufacturing facility for advanced chemistry cell, which will help them qualify for incentives under ACC PLI scheme.

ACCs are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy as and when required.

These have major applications in the electric vehicles, maintaining grid stability, solar rooftop, consumer electronics etc. With India's commitment towards renewable energy and achieving net-zero by 2070, energy storage is expected to play a crucial role in the overall energy ecosystem.

The government approved the PLI scheme 'National Programme on ACC Battery Storage' for achieving a manufacturing capacity of 50 Giga Watt Hour (GWh) of ACC to enhance manufacturing capabilities with a budgetary outlay of Rs 18,100 crore. Under the initiative, the emphasis of the government is to achieve greater domestic value addition, while at the same time ensuring that the levelised cost of battery manufacturing in India is globally competitive.