Battery PLI may get new spark as rules set to ease

Scheme saw limited success; 50 GWh capacity by Dec 2024 goal fell far short

- Rituraj Baruah & Manas Pimpalkhare

India’s ambitious plan to build large-scale manufacturing capacity for advanced chemistry cells (ACCs) used in industrial batteries under its flagship production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is headed for a significant course correction.

According to two people aware of the matter, the Union heavy industries ministry is weighing extensions and easier localization norms for the beneficiaries of the ₹18,100-crore PLI-ACC scheme that was announced in 2021.

This comes in the backdrop of the scheme’s limited success. The plan was to have 50 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of output capacity ready by December 2024, but as of this June, just about 1.4 GWh of Ola was ready, according to data provided by Union heavy industries minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to Mint in an email interview in June.