Reliance New Energy Battery Signs Programme Agreement With MHE

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) on February 16 signed a Programme Agreement with Reliance New Energy Battery Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited for Advanced Chemical Cell (ACC). The agreement has been signed under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

The agreement awards Reliance New Energy Battery Limited a 10 GWh ACC capacity, following a competitive global tender process and makes it eligible to receive incentives under India’s ₹ 18,100 crore PLI ACC scheme.

With this signing, 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 were allocated a total capacity of 30 GWh, and the Programme Agreements for that round were signed in July 2022.

Senior officials from MHI emphasized 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 state-of-the-art ACC manufacturing facilities, thereby supporting mainly the EV and renewable energy storage sectors.

In tandem with the PLI ACC scheme, the Union Budget for FY2025-26 introduced several transformative 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. Moreover, its emphasis on reinforcing domestic manufacturing and promoting value addition, further underscores vision of establishing a robust, self-reliant advanced battery ecosystem.