Overview
- The Ministry of Heavy Industries confirmed on November 12 that 22 companies have been shortlisted for a 10 GWh advanced chemistry cell tender set aside for grid‑scale battery storage.
- Shortlisted firms include Reliance Industries, Waaree Energy, Vikram Solar, Amara Raja and Exide among others, and successful bidders will share up to ₹3,620 crore in incentives tied to required investments and domestic sales.
- The 10 GWh tranche is specifically for grid‑scale battery energy storage systems, which store surplus solar generation and deliver power at peak times to reduce curtailment and balance the grid.
- The wider PLI‑ACC scheme targets 50 GWh of domestic cell capacity and has allocated 40 GWh in earlier rounds, but no incentive payments have been disbursed so far because of technology gaps, import delays, skilled labour shortages and governance concerns including a SEBI probe into Rajesh Exports.
- Next steps include technical and financial evaluation of bids and final selection of winners, and the outcome will determine whether the policy translates into factory builds and deployed grid storage or remains stalled by the programme's execution challenges.