- NITI Aayog has developed National Mission for Advanced Chemistry Cell Manufacturing for advanced Energy Storage technologies
- Cash subsidy to ACC manufacturers through a performance-linked incentive scheme
- The pandemic situation of COVID 19 has highlighted the importance of domestic manufacturing considering the risk of global supply chain disruptions
- IESA aims to make India a Global Hub for research, manufacturing, and adoption of advanced
energy storage and e-mobility technologies by 2022
12th November 2020, Delhi, India: India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), India’s leading alliance on energy storage & e-mobility welcomes the Union Cabinet’s approval on 11th Nov’2020 to introduce the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in the following 10 key sectors for Enhancing India’s Manufacturing Capabilities and Enhancing Exports – Atmanirbhar Bharat. The 10 key sectors have received a total financial outlay of INR 1,45,980 crore over a period of five years, of which, Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery has been approved a financial outlay of INR 18,100 crores. Automobiles and auto components have been approved INR 57,042 crores.
NITI Aayog and Department of Heavy Industries will be the implementing agency for this scheme. ACC battery manufacturing represents one of the largest economic opportunities of the twenty-first century for several global growth sectors, such as consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. The PLI scheme for ACC battery will incentivize large domestic and international players in establishing a competitive ACC battery set-up in the country. Subsequently Niti Aayog has released model Bid Documents on National Programme On Advance Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage with the last date being
Welcoming the cabinet decision, Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, President, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) says, "This is an extraordinary move by the government and is a result of 4+ years of industry push led by IESA and other stakeholders. This national program holds immense importance as it is going to accelerate the Aatamnirbhar Abhiyan in domestic manufacturing, helping India to enter the global value chain for advanced energy storage technologies. We are thankful to Shri. Amitabh Kant and NITI Aayog team for their leadership along with contributions from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in shaping this program,” Dr. Walawalkar added.
IESA has been actively working in this space for the past three years, collating information from industry players (IESA member companies) and submitting inputs on the discussion for Advanced Battery Manufacturing in India.
"Since May 2019, IESA has been in constant communication with the NITI Aayog and other ministries/departments on the launch of the Mission," IESA said in its official statement.
In July this year, IESA wrote a letter to the PMO requesting to expedite the launch of the Advanced Chemistry Cell - Gigafactory Manufacturing Plan. In September this year, with the view to further accelerate their efforts, IESA banded with industry associations like Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA), India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), ELCINA, and Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology (MAIT) and submitted inputs urging the ministry to take the necessary steps for promoting Advanced Battery Manufacturing in India.
IESA wrote multiple letters to the ministry explaining the urgency of the Mission and the need to avoid delays which could lead to India missing out on investment opportunities to other countries.
Moving forward, Dr. Walawalkar suggests there is a need for the government to pick some measures for kick-starting deployments of energy storage technologies in a systematic manner that will help investors to commit billions of dollars required for building gigafactories and the rest of the supply chain. This does not necessarily require the government to subsidize the demand, but to identify applications where these technologies are economical and government agencies can save money by adopting the ACC technologies (similar to how the LED rollout was planned through EESL).
Making SECI a case in point, Dr. Walawalkar proposed as SECI has already identified series of projects and business models for deployment of large-scale renewable hybrid projects, the government can also focus on utilizing energy storage for reducing diesel consumption to help with air quality and pollution reduction.
"IESA is committed to supporting this initiative by bringing together various companies that are ready to invest and are also driving initiatives to accelerate the adoption of energy storage and EVs from the private sector through initiatives such as E$$Meet, MOVE and EV Adopters Club," Dr. Walawalkar added. With the launch of the ACC Battery Manufacturing Mission, we hope that the government will also monitor the progress of these projects and ensure timely completion to help build industry confidence."
IESA being actively working in the space of Energy Storage & Electric Vehicle, has put lot of efforts over the past three years in generating interest amongst Technology Companies & Investors after the launch of National Energy Storage Mission and National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage. By collating information from industry players of member companies, IESA has submitted inputs on the discussion points for Advanced Battery Manufacturing in India in the month of May’2019.Since then in constant communication with Niti Aayog and other ministries/departments on the launch of the Mission. IESA wrote multiple letters in the year 2020 (3rd Mar’2020, 10th July 2020, 22nd Sept’2020, 6th November 2020) requesting to expediate the launch of the mission explaining with the consequences/threats due to delay in the launch and missing of Investment opportunities to other countries. Recent letter on 6th Nov was submitted with the support of Industry associations like Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA), India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), Electronic Industries Association of India (Elcina) and MAIT.
IESA had organized a three series virtual roundtable discussion in the month of July’2020 titled AtmaNirbhar Bharat - Energy Storage Manufacturing Roadmap for India, with our ~100 ecosystem players. Shri Suresh Prabhu, India’s Sherpa to G20, G7 and Member of Parliament along with multiple representatives from MeitY, Ministry of Mines, NITI Aayog and numerous international partners graced the discussions. These discussions attempted to highlight the importance of domestic production, considering the risk of current global supply chain disruptions. Based on these discussions, a detailed report has been submitted to PMO and copied to Ministry of Power, Ministry of Heavy Industries, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Niti Aayog.
Last week, IESA has hosted India Energy Storage Week which was attended by more than 1000+ delegates, expressed lot of enthusiasm when we approached companies to get ready for investments in manufacturing and association ancillary industries. However, many potential industry players expressed common concerns over delays in launch of program. These issues have been highlighted in the recent Industry collation letter to PMO.
