Production-linked incentives (PLI) for setting up advanced chemical cell (ACC) batteries will continue to be bid out in batches of 5 Gigawatt hours (GWh). The move comes despite requests from smaller players to considerably reduce the minimum bid size by up to 80% (1 GWh) and encourage newer participants.
“The larger batch size ensures that only serious players get the sops,” a senior government official told ET.
Incentives worth INR 7,240 crore for setting up 20 GWh of ACC battery manufacturing capacity will be offered under the current leg of auctions. Public consultation on this issue took place in July. These sops are part of an INR 18,100 crore PLI scheme for the sector.
The government is also trying to limit the exposure to any one player by maintaining a cap on total capacity to be cornered.
“Existing PLI beneficiaries can also bid, but the cap of 20 GWh per player will remain in force to prevent any one player from getting a larger share of the incentives on offer,” the official added.
Last year, the ministry of heavy industries awarded PLI support for setting up 30 GWh of ACC battery manufacturing capacity by 2030. Ola Cell Technologies won a lion’s share with 20 GWh capacity. ACC Energy Storage (bid as Rajesh Exports) and Reliance New Energy Battery Storage were awarded incentives for 5 GWh each. The centre expects that PLI incentives will aid in creation of 95 GWh of battery manufacturing capacity by these three players.
This is not the first auction for the 20 GWh PLI capacity. Initially, this was allocated to Hyundai Global Motors, a company said to be impersonating South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co.
Earlier, the Centre had expected an investment of INR 45,000 crore from four initial PLI beneficiaries. This was scaled down to INR 27,000 crore after Hyundai Global Motors fiasco.
