Ola, Reliance, Hyundai, Rajesh Exports Win Bids To Make Battery Cell Plants In India

Ola Electric Mobility, Hyundai Global Motors Co., Reliance New Energy Solar and Rajesh Exports Ltd. have won bids under the country’s $2.4-billion (Rs 18,100 crore) scheme to build gigafactories that make battery cells in India.

Ola and Hyundai each have been awarded production-linked incentives for setting up 20 gigawatt hour of manufacturing capacity for advanced chemistry cell battery storage, the Ministry of Heavy Industries said in a statement.

Reliance New Energy and Rajesh Exports will get PLI for setting up 5 GWh of manufacturing capacity. Reliance had bid for 20GWh, and the remaining 15GWh has been waitlisted, the statement said.

The companies will make a direct investment of around Rs 45,000 crore in advanced chemistry cell battery storage manufacturing projects, the statement said.

BloombergQuint had on March 17 reported about the companies winning the bids.

Bids of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Exide Industries Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Amara Raja Batteries Ltd., and India Power Corp. have been waitlisted. Lucas-TVS Ltd. was also among the 10 companies that had submitted their bids last month, but the ministry statement didn’t include its name.

According to the PLI for battery cells, the selected companies will have to set up their factories within two years. Incentives will be disbursed over a span of five years on sale of batteries manufactured in India.