Reliance beats Amara Raja, JSW to bag ₹3,620 cr battery PLI

Reliance Industries Ltd has been awarded 10 gigawatt hour (GWh) Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) capacity under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme worth ₹3,620 crore. The ministry of heavy industries announced the selection of the successful bidder under the PLI scheme for ACC Battery Storage on Wednesday.

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

The ministry of heavy industries received bids from seven bidders as part of re-bidding of 10 GWh of ACC battery manufacturing. The list of bidders who had submitted bids in response to this tender were ACME Cleantech Solutions Private Limited, Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies Private Limited, Anvi Power Industries Private Limited, JSW Neo Energy Limited, Lucas TVS Limited, Reliance Industries, and Waaree Energies Limited for a cumulative capacity of 70 GWh.

All seven bids were evaluated, and six companies were shortlisted for financial evaluation as per the requirements under the RFP, the ministry says. The final evaluation of the shortlisted bidders was carried out as per Quality & Cost Based Selection (QCBS) mechanism and the bidders were ranked based on their combined technical and financial scores. The ministry has awarded the 10 GWh PLI ACC capacity to the shortlisted bidder with highest the overall score, i.e., Reliance Industries, and the remaining five shortlisted bidders are put on the waiting list as per their rank. Bidders who were waitlisted under the Program are: ACME Cleantech Solutions Private Limited (Waitlist 1), Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies Private Limited (Waitlist 2), Waaree Energies Limited (Waitlist 3), JSW Neo Energy Limited(Waitlist 4), and Lucas TVS Limited(Waitlist 5).

The government approved the PLI scheme for manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) in May 2021 in an effort to boost domestic manufacturing of battery cells. The move was aimed at bringing down battery prices, which will ultimately reduce costs of electric vehicles. Under the scheme, companies will receive incentives worth ₹18,100 crore for ACC manufacturing capacity of 50 GWh.

The first round of the ACC PLI bidding concluded in March 2022, and three beneficiary firms were allocated a total capacity of 30 GWh. In 2022, Reliance New Energy Ltd, Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd and Rajesh Exports Ltd – the three selected bidders – signed agreements under PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery storage.

Ola Electric was awarded 20 GWh capacity by the government under its PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery storage. The company says it is eligible to receive incentives under the cell PLI scheme over a five-year period from the date of commissioning of the Ola Gigafactory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu. Ola Electric recently said trial production at the company’s cell gigafactory is going on currently and commercial production will start early next year.