Reliance Industries bags 10 GWh ACC EV battery project under PLI scheme

Earlier this year, seven companies submitted bids to establish local manufacturing units for advanced chemistry cells (ACCs) under the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

Reliance has the capacity to produce up to 10 gigawatts of ACCs, as per the statement.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries on September 4 said the 10 GWh Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) manufacturing scheme had an allocated budget of Rs 3,620 crore and received bids from seven companies, including ACME Cleantech Solutions Pvt Ltd, Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies Pvt Ltd, Anvi Power Industries Pvt Ltd, JSW Neo Energy Ltd, Lucas TVS Ltd, Reliance Industries, and Waaree Energies Ltd.

The five companies ranked on the waitlist are ACME Cleantech Solutions, Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies, Waaree Energies, JSW Neo Energy, and Lucas TVS.

The government announced that Reliance Industries emerged as the top bidder with the highest overall score after a rigorous evaluation using the Quality and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS) mechanism.

The company's bid was evaluated on a combination of technical and financial criteria.

ACCs, which serve as EV cells, are crucial for advancing electric vehicles in India, the world's third-largest car market.

The scheme, with a maximum allocation of $434.4 million, aims to enhance local battery production at a time when the government has set ambitious targets for EV adoption.

Electric vehicles accounted for about 2% of total car sales in India last year, with the government aiming to increase that share to 30% by 2030.