India likely to begin domestic cell manufacturing by February 2024

Mahendra Nath Pandey, India's Central Minister for Heavy Industries, has announced that ACC PLI awardees such as Ola Electric, Reliance New Energy, and Rajesh Exports will begin manufacturing cells in the country.

He was speaking at the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit and added that Gujarat, along with India's leading EV manufacturers, will ensure that soon India will be self-sufficient in cell manufacturing and, in time, even emerge as the global nerve centre for cell exports worldwide.

The Union Cabinet approved the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage on May 12, 2021, with a budget of Rs 18,100 crore to strengthen the country's electric mobility and battery storage ecosystem.

The scheme aims to boost India's Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) manufacturing capabilities by establishing Gigascale ACC and battery manufacturing facilities in India, with a focus on maximum domestic value addition as part of the government's Make in India initiative.

On the benefits of the government's FAME2 scheme, Pandey stated that India currently has over 1.2 lakh EVs on the road.

Speaking about the benefits of the FAME 2 scheme in Gujarat, he stated that close to Rs 500 crore in subsidies have been earmarked for the state, with close to Rs 302 crore sanctioned. He also indicated that over 1 lakh EVs are on the road in the state.

On the status of the ACC PLI scheme, he informed that more than Rs 13,000 crore of investment has already been garnered from the industry. 

The Minister stated that the Auto PLI scheme has been extended by one more year, with the revised deadline extended from 2026 to 2027.

India's PLI scheme for automobiles and auto components (Rs 25,938 crore), PLI for ACC (Rs 18,100 crore), and the FAME Scheme (Rs 10,000 crore) are poised to enable India to leapfrog to environmentally cleaner, sustainable, advanced, and more efficient Electric Vehicles (EV), Pandey remarked.