The Indian Government is planning to stimulate bids for a Rs 8,000 crore ($960 million) incentive scheme as it seeks to boost domestic electric vehicle battery production, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
Program details
The unnamed sources apparently disclosed that the incentive program would aid successful bidders in establishing “advanced chemistry battery plants” for 20 GWh maximum capacity.
The Indian Government will start accepting bids from interested companies by December, as per the report sources.
In hindsight, the following companies won the bid last year to build a local battery production with a maximum capacity of 30 GWh under Phase I of the incentive program:
- Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’-owned Reliance Industries Ltd
- Indian two-wheeler EV maker Ola Electric Mobility Pvt
- Indian gold retailer Rajesh Exports Ltd.
Potential bidders
Business Today noted that major players in the electric vehicle industry conveyed plans to join the bidding during the recent consultation meeting with Indian officials, including the following:
- South Korean battery giant LGES
- Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra
- Indian tech giant Amara Raja Energy & Mobility
- Indian storage battery maker Exide Industries
- Indian firm engaged in EPC Projects Larsen & Toubro
Winning bidders will receive incentives from the program in five years based on the power batteries’ sales.
The President of Amara Raja’s new energy subsidiary, Vijayanand Samudrala, asserted in an email response to the American mass media corporation that Phase I of the incentive program delivered a “mixed” result as “only one bidder has emerged with the potential to set up a global scale facility.”
Samudrala further noted that it imposed “restrictive terms that made the bidders adopt more cautious approach,” urging the Indian Government to make the incentive “schememore pragmatic and enabling to engage potential bidders with keen interest to participate.”
Meanwhile, other speculated bidders mentioned above are yet to comment on the news report.
Battery growth forecasts
Battery demand is projected to surge to 260 GWh by the end of the decade due to the rapid growth of the electric vehicle industry.
The expanding industries of grid-scale energy storage and consumer electronics are also anticipated to contribute to the 2030 growth forecast for battery demand, ET reports, citing a report by research hub RMI India and the think tank Niti Aayog.
The incentive program for domestic electric vehicle battery production is part of India’s wider strategy to accelerate the shift to sustainable and clean mobility. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration mulls lowering BEV import tariffs to gain Tesla’s investment.
