No firm claims PLI incentive for ACC battery storage despite investment

Despite investments of Rs 5,180 crore and creating 1,277 jobs, no firm has claimed incentives under the PLI scheme for ACC Battery Storage. The govt attributes this to manufacturing facilities not being substantially commissioned yet.

No beneficiary firm has claimed any incentive under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage, even as the scheme has attracted investments worth Rs 5,180 crore and generated 1,277 direct jobs, Minister of State for Heavy Industries Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma told the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Tuesday.

He said the PLI scheme for the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage, was approved in May 2021 with a budgetary outlay of Rs 18,100 crore to establish 50 GWh of domestic manufacturing capacity.

The government indicated that incentives have not been claimed because manufacturing capacity under the scheme is yet to be substantially commissioned. As per the government data in February this year, only 1 GWh of capacity was installed by Ola Cell Technologies Pvt. Ltd., while the remaining three beneficiaries were yet to commission production facilities.

Beneficiary Capacity Allocation

The Minister said that under PLI ACC Scheme, 40 GWh capacity has been awarded for four projects in three states. Under the scheme, ACC Energy Storage Pvt. Ltd. has been awarded 5 GWh capacity in Karnataka, Ola Cell Technologies Pvt. Ltd. 20 GWh in Tamil Nadu, Reliance New Energy Battery Storage Ltd. 5 GWh in Gujarat and Reliance New Energy Battery Ltd. 10 GWh in Gujarat.

Scheme's Impact and Objective

The Minister said beneficiary firms had cumulatively invested Rs 5,180 crore and generated 1,277 direct jobs as of May 31, 2026. He said the ACC PLI scheme has acted as a catalyst for India's battery manufacturing ecosystem, encouraging investments beyond the selected beneficiaries.

He noted that several manufacturers outside the scheme have announced plans to set up large-scale cell manufacturing capacity.

The ACC PLI scheme has been designed to build indigenous manufacturing capacity and reduce India's dependence on imported advanced chemistry cells, although there is no restriction on the import of ACC batteries. (ANI)

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