Hope to make India a global hub for EVs, cell tech: Ola co-founder

Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal on Thursday expressed the hope to make India a global hub for electric vehicles and cell technology, with the company being selected for the government’s production-linked incentive scheme for the manufacturing of advanced chemistry cell battery storage.

The heavy industries ministry has named Ola Electric and three other companies eligible for receiving benefits under the PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) scheme. The allotment was made for a total of 50 GWh of battery capacity to the four successful bidders. These firms, the ministry said, will receive incentives under the country’s Rs 18,100-crore programme to boost domestic production of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery.

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“India has the strongest government support for electrification in the whole world! Excited to be selected for the PLI scheme for manufacturing world class cells in India. Today, 90 per cent of global capacity is in China. We will reverse that and make India a global hub for EVs and cell tech,” Aggarwal tweeted.

Hyundai Global Motors Company and Ola Electric Mobility bagged for 20 GWh capacity each while Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd and Rajesh Exports won for 5 GWh each. The government approved the PLI scheme — ‘National Programme on ACC Battery Storage’– for achieving a manufacturing capacity of 50 Giga Watt Hour (GWh) of ACC to enhance manufacturing capabilities with a budgetary outlay of Rs 18,100 crore.

Under the initiative, the emphasis of the government is to achieve greater domestic value addition, while at the same time ensuring that the cost of battery manufacturing in India is globally competitive The beneficiary firm will be free to choose suitably advanced technology and the corresponding plant and machinery, raw material and other intermediate goods for setting up a cell manufacturing facility to cater to any application.

The programme envisages an investment to boost domestic manufacturing and also facilitate battery storage demand creation for electric vehicles and stationary storage along with the development of a complete domestic supply chain and foreign direct investment in the country.