Reliance, Ola to Make Batteries in India Under $2.3 Billion Plan
The firms will get incentives under India’s $2.3 billion advanced chemistry cell program.
(Bloomberg) -- A renewable energy unit of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. and Rajesh Exports Ltd. are planning to manufacture batteries in India as the world’s fourth-largest automobile market accelerates its switch to electric vehicles.
The firms will get incentives under India’s 181 billion-rupee ($2.3 billion) advanced chemistry cell program, the ministry of heavy industries said in a statement Friday. Under the battery plan, companies are expected to build a manufacturing output of about 95 gigawatt-hours, it said.
India is seeking to expedite its lagging adoption of electric vehicles as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed the South Asian nation will turn net carbon zero by 2070. Manufacturing batteries -- the costliest component of an electric vehicle -- locally will make cleaner vehicles more affordable for the masses and for the value-conscious India market, which has fallen behind nations such as China in making the shift.
10 Companies Bidding for Incentives Under Indian Battery Scheme
According to the program, a manufacturing plant has to be set up within two years and incentives will be given over five years on the sale of batteries made locally, the ministry said in the statement. The government received bids from 10 companies with a combined output of 128 gigawatt-hours, it said.
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