The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a ₹18,100-crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturers of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery storage, to reduce imports.
The Department of Heavy Industries’ proposal with the target of achieving 50 gigawatt hour of ACC and 5 GWh of ‘niche’ ACC capacity was approved by the Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a statement said.
“ACCs are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy as and when required. The consumer electronics, electric vehicles, advanced electricity grids, solar rooftop etc. which are major battery consuming sectors are expected to achieve robust growth in the coming years. It is expected that the dominant battery technologies will control some of the world’s largest growth sectors,” the statement read.
The government said there was negligible investment in manufacturing and value addition of ACCs in India and the demand was being met through imports. The PLI scheme would lead to a reduction in imports and support the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative, it said.
Beneficiaries of the scheme would be selected through a competitive bidding process and the manufacturing facilities would have to be commissioned within two years. The incentive amount would be disbursed over five years.
Heavy Industries Minister Prakash Javadekar said at a briefing the PLI scheme would give a boost to the electric vehicles sector.
