Battery PLI loses charge

ONLY 2.8% OF TARGETED CAPACITY COMMISSIONED SO FAR

- SAURAV ANAND

MORE THAN FOUR years after the Centre launched its flagship production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to build a domestic battery manufacturing ecosystem, progress on the ground remains sharply behind stated ambitions, with just 2.8% of the targeted capacity commissioned so far.

The Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) PLI scheme, notified in October 2021 with an outlay of ₹18,100 crore, aimed to establish 50 gigawatt hour (GWh) of battery cell manufacturing capacity in India by 2025 and reduce near-total dependence on imported lithium-ion cells. However, as of October 2025, only 1.4 GWh of capacity has been commissioned within the stipulated timeline—entirely by Ola Electric—according to a new assessment by JMK Research and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

Despite strong initial industry interest and multiple auction rounds, the report finds a widening gap between policy intent and execution.