Reliance Industries wins bid for govt incentives to make EV batteries

Reliance Industries has won a bid under an incentives program which supports EV battery production, a statement from the Indian government said on Wednesday.

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

Reliance can make upto 10 gigawatts of ACCs, the statement said.

The oil-to-telecom conglomerate beat six other competitors, which included units of battery maker Amara Raja Energy and Mobility and power producer JSW Energy.

ACCs are used as EV cells, critical to the development of electric vehicles in the world's third largest car market.

The scheme, with a maximum outlay of $434.4 million and aimed to boost local production of batteries, comes at a time when the government has set ambitious targets of EV adoption.

Electric models made up about 2 per cent of total car sales in India last year, and the government wants to increase that to 30 per cent by 2030.