RIL’s Reliance New Energy Battery wins 10 GWh capacity under ACC PLI scheme

Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Reliance New Energy Battery has been awarded 10 gigawatt-hour (GWh) ACC capacity following a tender process, making it eligible to receive incentives under India's ₹18,100 crore PLI ACC (Advanced Chemistry Cell) scheme.

With this, a cumulative capacity of 40 GWh has been awarded to four selected beneficiary firms out of 50 GWh capacity. In the first round of bidding conducted in March 2022, three beneficiary firms — Reliance New Energy, Ola Electric Mobility and Rajesh Exports — were allocated a total capacity of 30 GWh, and the agreements for that round were signed in July 2022. Ola Electric was awarded 20 GWh capacity in the first round.

For the latest round, the Ministry of Heavy Industries received bids from seven bidders including Reliance, Amara Raja, Waaree Energies, Lucas TVS, JSW Neo Energy, Anvi Power and ACME Cleantech Solutions.

Senior officials from the ministry said that the PLI ACC Scheme is designed to boost local value addition while ensuring that the cost of battery manufacturing in India remains globally competitive. The scheme allows the beneficiary firm the flexibility to adopt the most suitable technology and associated inputs for establishing ACC manufacturing facilities, thereby supporting the EV and renewable energy storage sectors.

“This initiative of Government of India has acted as a catalyst for Indian cell manufacturers to setup cell manufacturing facilities. Apart from the PLI beneficiary, over 10 companies have already started setting up more than 100 GWh additional capacity,” the ministry said.

This comes after the Union Budget for 2025-26 introduced several measures aimed at accelerating domestic battery manufacturing and supporting the growth of the e-mobility ecosystem in the country. Notably, the Budget exempted 35 additional Capital Goods for EV battery manufacturing from Basic Customs Duty (BCD), a targeted initiative designed to boost the production of lithium-ion batteries within India.

The government approved the PLI scheme for manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) in May 2021 in an effort to boost domestic manufacturing of battery cells. The move was aimed at bringing down battery prices, which will reduce costs of electric vehicles.

Ola had earlier said it is eligible to receive incentives under the cell PLI scheme over a five-year period from the date of commissioning of the Ola Gigafactory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu. The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company will start commercial production of cells this year. Ola claims its ‘Bharat 4680 cell’ is five times bigger than existing lithium-ion cylindrical cells used in electric vehicles.