News, 5 March 2025
The electric car battery manufacturing division of Reliance Industries said that it has asked the federal government for an extension to set up its production facility under the production-linked incentive (PLI) program. It did not, however, outline the length of the requested extension or the cause of the hold-up.
Reliance obtained incentives under the government’s Rs 181 billion ($2.07 billion) PLI plan in March 2022 to establish 5 gigawatts (GW) of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) manufacturing capacity locally. In addition to supporting India’s electric vehicle (EV) drive, which aims to increase EV sales to 30% of all automobile sales, the program sought to increase domestic battery production. At the moment, EVs only make up around 2% of the market.
Under the PLI scheme, its beneficiaries had to set up manufacturing facilities under the plan within two years of signing the contract. A minimum “committed capacity,” with at least 25% local value addition within two years and 50% within five, was also required of the enterprises.
Reliance had initially intended to invest an estimated $400 million in production-linked incentives to create a 10 GWh battery capacity. A unit of Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. and Rajesh Exports, a subsidiary of Reliance, had also received bids under the initiative to build battery cell factories, adding to a total capacity of 30 GWh.
On March 3, The Ministry of Heavy Industries sent a notice to Reliance New Energy Battery Storage Ltd , a step-down subsidiary of Reliance Industries, imposing liquidated damages for the failure to complete Milestone 1 of the program agreement. With effect from January 1, 2025, the penalty is set at 0.1% of the Rs 5 billion ($60.7 million) performance security for each day of delay. The total penalty as of March 3 was Rs 31 million ($355,293).
RNEBSL has asked for an extension to reach Milestone 1, but it hasn’t revealed the updated schedule or the causes of the hold-up.
Plans for the Jamnagar gigafactory’s future
Reliance has earlier stated that the second half of 2026 would see the start of operations at their battery Gigafactory in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Assembly of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for utility-scale, residential, commercial, and mobility industries will be the plant’s primary focus at first. The Jamnagar facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 30 GWh.
The key investments made by Reliance in battery technology
To support its energy storage goals, Reliance has been making significant investments in battery technologies. The conglomerate has investments in several battery development companies, such as: LithiumWerks (US) which is a maker of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. It has invested in Faradion (UK), a business that develops technologies for sodium-ion batteries. Reliance was an investor in Ambri (US), a liquid metal battery developer, and is now in a position to acquire ownership of the company after Ambri recently filed for bankruptcy.
By making these investments, Reliance hopes to establish a significant footprint in cutting-edge energy solutions, increase India’s battery production independence, and establish itself as a major participant in the global battery supply chain.
