'Govt pushing ACC battery storage scheme, budget hiked 6x in few years'

The budget for the advanced chemistry cell sector has gone up 6x in the last few years, reflecting the government's continuous focus to boost the country's energy storage ecosystem, a senior official said.

The National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery storage was approved by the Union Cabinet on May 12, 2021 with budgetary outlay of Rs 18,100 crore.

The scheme is aimed at strengthening the ecosystem for electric mobility and battery storage in the country.

The scheme envisages to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities of ACCs by setting up of giga scale ACC and battery manufacturing facilities in India with emphasis on maximum domestic value addition.

Addressing at the India Energy Storage Week 2024 (IESW 2024) curtain raiser even, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries Vijay Mittal said, "Ministry of Heavy Industries and the Government of India have provided a 6x growth in the budget."

He said initially a budget of Rs 1,118 crore was provided.
 

With passage of time, he said, "I have seen a consistent rise in financial support to this sector because the Government of India wants to prioritise the growth of self-sufficient energy ecosystem. Budget allocations grew 3x in 2022 which is Rs 3,000 crore and in the current financial year, it again grew up to 2x."

India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) is celebrating its 10th anniversary edition of the India IESW Conference and Exhibition this year. The IESW 2024 is scheduled on July 1-5, 2024 in New Delhi.

This year, the IESW is expected to see over 200 exhibitors and partners and participation from over 50 countries.

"IESW 2024 will bring together companies across the energy storage, eMobility and green hydrogen ecosystem on a single platform along with government ministries and country partners platform for making India a global hub for advanced energy storage ecosystem," IESA President Dr Rahul Walawalkar said.