India’s Reliance Industries seeks extension for EV battery plant setup

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries electric vehicle battery-making unit has asked the federal government for more time to set up its manufacturing plant as part of a production-linked incentive scheme, the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate said on Tuesday.

The conglomerate did not specify the length of the extension sought or the reason for the delay.

In March 2022, Reliance secured incentives under the government’s, opens new tab production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to establish 5 gigawatts (GW) of local manufacturing capacity for advanced chemistry cells (ACCs).

The 181-billion-rupee ($2.07 billion) scheme required companies to set up manufacturing facilities within two years.

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Reliance also said that the unit has received a letter from the Ministry of Heavy Industries imposing a penalty due to the delay. The penalty stood at 31 million rupees ($355,293) as of March 3.

The Indian government launched the incentive scheme to boost local production of batteries as the country aims to increase EV sales in India to 30 per cent of total car sales. Electric models comprised about 2 per cent of total car sales in India last year.