Reliance, Ola Electric, Mahindra bid for incentives under India's battery scheme (updated)

LG

15/01/2022 17:35

(Recasts with government statement)
    By Aditi Shah
    NEW DELHI, Jan 14 (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries
 RELI.NS , Softbank Group-backed  9984.T  Ola Electric and
automaker Mahindra & Mahindra  MAHM.NS  have submitted bids
under the country's $2.4 billion battery scheme, the government
said on Saturday. 
    India last year finalised https://bit.ly/3fmg3p5 an
incentive program to encourage companies to invest in the local
manufacturing of batteries as it looks to establish a domestic
supply chain for clean transport and build storage for renewable
energy.
    Hyundai Global Motors, engineering conglomerate Larsen &
Toubro  LART.NS , and battery makers Amara Raja  AMAR.NS  and
Exide  EXID.NS  have also submitted bids, the Ministry of Heavy
Industries said.
    "The program envisages an investment which will boost
domestic manufacturing ... and foreign direct investment in the
country," the ministry said. 
    India wants to establish a total of 50 gigawatt hours (Gwh)
of battery storage capacity over five years, which it expects
will attract direct investment of about $6 billion.
    To qualify for the incentives, companies must set up at
least 5 Gwh of storage capacity and meet certain local content
conditions, all of which would require a minimum investment of
more than $850 million.
    Ten companies have submitted bids totalling about 130 Gwh,
the ministry said.
    India was also encouraging global companies https://reut.rs/3ntv4K3
 such as Tesla Inc  TSLA.O , Samsung  005930.KS , LG Energy,
Northvolt and Panasonic  6752.T  to invest.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2RL3P5    
    Clean auto technology is a key part of India's strategy for
cutting pollution in major cities and reducing oil dependence.
But electric vehicles (EVs) currently make up a fraction of
total sales in the country mainly due to their high price as
batteries are imported. 
    The South Asian country wants electric cars to make up 30%
of private car sales by 2030 and for electric motorcycles and
scooters to make up 40% of such sales, driving demand for
batteries which currently contribute about 35% to 40% of the
total vehicle cost.

 (Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Ros
Russell)
 ((aditi.shah@tr.com; +91-11-4954 8023, +91-11-3015 8023;
Reuters Messaging: twitter: @aditishahsays))