Centre mulls $2.5 billion aid to manufacture grid-scale batteries

The power ministry is proposing a nearly $2.5 billion (Rs 20,393 crore) incentive plan to encourage domestic manufacturing of grid-scale batteries, aiming at bringing down the cost of energy storage to speed up its energy transition.

There are early-stage discussions in the government about offering incentives to manufacturers for batteries they produce over a certain time period, power minister Raj Kumar Singh said in an interview last week. The total payout could be in the realm of Rs 20,000 crore, he said.

Worried over rival China’s dominance in lithium, the nation is in talks with countries including Australia to secure supplies of the battery metal, he said. India also plans to promote other battery technologies.