India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), India’s leading alliance on energy storage & e-mobility welcomes the Union Cabinet’s approval on to introduce the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in the following 10 key sectors for Enhancing India’s Manufacturing Capabilities and Enhancing Exports – Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The 10 key sectors have received a total financial outlay of Rs 1,45,980 crore over a period of five years, of which, Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery has been approved a financial outlay of Rs 18,100 crore. Automobiles and auto components have been approved Rs 57,042 crore.

NITI Aayog and Department of Heavy Industries will be the implementing agency for this scheme. ACC battery manufacturing represents one of the largest economic opportunities of the twenty-first century for several global growth sectors, such as consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. The PLI scheme for ACC battery will incentivize large domestic and international players in establishing a competitive ACC battery set-up in the country.

Welcoming the cabinet decision, Dr Rahul Walawalkar, President, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) says, “This is an extraordinary move by the government and is a result of 4+ years of industry push led by IESA and other stakeholders. This national program holds immense importance as it is going to accelerate the Atma Nirbhar Abhiyan in domestic manufacturing, helping India to enter the global value chain for advanced energy storage technologies. We are thankful to Amitabh Kant and NITI Aayog team for their leadership along with contributions from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in shaping this program.”

IESA has been actively working in this space for the past three years, collating information from industry players (IESA member companies) and submitting inputs on the discussion for Advanced Battery Manufacturing in India.

“Since May 2019, IESA has been in constant communication with the NITI Aayog and other ministries/departments on the launch of the mission,” IESA said in its official statement.

In July this year, IESA wrote a letter to the PMO requesting to expedite the launch of the Advanced Chemistry Cell – Gigafactory Manufacturing Plan. In September this year, with the view to further accelerate their efforts, IESA banded with industry associations like Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), ELCINA, and Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology (MAIT) and submitted inputs urging the ministry to take the necessary steps for promoting Advanced Battery Manufacturing in India.

IESA wrote multiple letters to the ministry explaining the urgency of the Mission and the need to avoid delays which could lead to India missing out on investment opportunities to other countries.

Moving forward, Dr Walawalkar suggests there is a need for the government to pick some measures for kick-starting deployments of energy storage technologies in a systematic manner that will help investors to commit billions of dollars required for building Giga factories and the rest of the supply chain. This does not necessarily require the government to subsidise the demand, but to identify applications where these technologies are economical and government agencies can save money by adopting the ACC technologies (similar to how the LED rollout was planned through EESL).

Making SECI a case in point, Dr Walawalkar proposed as SECI has already identified a series of projects and business models for deployment of large-scale renewable hybrid projects, the government can also focus on utilizing energy storage for reducing diesel consumption to help with air quality and pollution reduction.