ACC Battery Gigafactories: India's Cell Manufacturing Challenge

ACC PLI Scheme Sets the Foundation for India's Battery Gigafactories

The National Program on ACC Battery Storage, cleared by the Cabinet in May 2021 with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore, requires beneficiaries to hit at least 25 percent domestic value addition, rising to 60 percent within five years, alongside a mandatory investment of Rs 225 crore per GWh within two years.

Of the 50 GWh target, 40 GWh has already been awarded to four beneficiary firms, with the Ministry of Heavy Industries now inviting global bids for the remaining 10 GWh, reserved specifically for grid-scale stationary storage.

Dry Rooms and Chemical Processing Define the Cell Manufacturing Process

Dry Rooms: The Environmental-Control Challenge

Moisture ruins lithium-ion chemistry, so cell lines run in humidity control zones using desiccant dehumidification to keep dew points extremely low

Airlocks and strict material-transfer protocols stop ambient air from entering active work zones

Continuous humidity monitoring flags drift before it affects a batch

Dry-room design is a major driver of both capital cost and long-term cell quality

Chemical Processing: From Slurry to Electrodes

Cathode and anode active materials are blended into a slurry with binders and conductive additives

Viscosity control during slurry mixing determines coating uniformity

The slurry is coated onto aluminium (cathode) and copper (anode) foils

Drying, calendering (compression) and slitting shape the electrode into its final, usable form

Each step compounds - small defects here become yield losses at the cell-testing stage

For India, building this capability requires more than assembly machinery. It requires process engineering, specialized equipment and reliable material supply chains. Once these systems are established, the next challenge is converting installed infrastructure into reliable commercial production.

Ola Electric, Reliance and Amara Raja: From Gigafactory Plans to Production

Ola Electric remains the only ACC PLI beneficiary with commissioned capacity - 1.4 GWh, though this has yet to meet domestic-value-addition thresholds needed to claim incentives.

Its Krishnagiri plant is expanding toward roughly 5.9 GWh gross installed capacity, with ramp-up targeted for completion by September 2026, having deferred its original 20 GWh plan. CEO Bhavish Aggarwal says cell operations are gaining speed, shaped by Indian research, engineering and production.

Reliance New Energy, holding a 10 GWh PLI award, is building at its Jamnagar Giga Complex, where all major manufacturing equipment has already been delivered to the site, with commissioning targeted for the second half of 2026 at an initial 40 GWh scale.

Amara Raja, backing its Telangana Giga Corridor with a Gotion-InoBat technology tie-up, has inaugurated a Customer Qualification Plant to validate cylindrical and prismatic cells for OEMs, with bulk 2 GWh production targeted for June 2027.

India's Battery Manufacturing Challenge Lies Beyond GWh Capacity

Formation, aging and yield will determine whether cells are commercially viable, not just technically functional

Equipment and process technology are still largely imported

Domestic cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator supply chains are thin

Skilled workforce and process-engineering depth take years to build.

India's ACC opportunity will depend on whether factories build the full production ecosystem - moisture-controlled facilities, electrode processing, quality-tested output and equipment localization together.

The ACC PLI scheme has created the policy foundation. The next milestone is manufacturing depth.