ACC battery market demand in India to rise to 220 GWh by 2030: Report

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI) The advanced chemistry cell battery market demand in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 50 per cent from 20 GWh in 2022 to around 220 GWh by 2030, according to a CII report released on Sunday.

The growth is expected to be supported by the thriving local battery manufacturing industry and a robust local supply chain.

As a result, India is expected to localize a significant portion of the entire value chain from material processing to pack assembly and integration, said the report on ‘Raw materials for Battery & Component Manufacturing’.

The report, prepared in collaboration with 6Wresearch, is the third in a series of reports on ‘Roadmap for Future Mobility 2030’.

“EV is determined primarily by the battery running the powertrain of the vehicle. Advancements in the battery technology space is pivotal for the development of better-performing EVs,” said Vipin Sondhi, Chairman, CII National Committee on Future Mobility and former CEO & MD, Ashok Leyland and JCB.

He added, “It is imperative for India to not only strengthen the national battery raw materials and manufacturing set-up but also to become a globally trusted supplier of high-quality, innovative battery materials to counter the Chinese supremacy in the domain.”

The report recommends incentivizing development of domestic mines as several raw minerals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium and copper have a negligible reserve, production, and refining capacity in India.

It also calls for lowering the custom duty of critical minerals used in battery manufacturing and incentivising setting up of mineral processing plants to extract required minerals.

India needs a battery chemical processing industry at par with several other stages of battery manufacturing and various measures in form of incentives, exemptions from various taxes etc., said the CII report.

This may be done by way of incentives from the government, additional funding for R&D, collaboration with countries with advanced technology for technological collaboration and simplification of the regulations related to chemical industry- obtaining licenses, environmental clearances, and other approvals etc., it added.

The government last month announced the re-bidding of production-linked incentives for 20 GWh Advanced Chemistry Cell manufacturing — India’s Rs 18,100-crore programme to boost local battery cell production.

ACCs are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy as and when required.

These have major applications in electric vehicles, maintaining grid stability, solar rooftop, consumer electronics etc. With India’s commitment towards renewable energy and achieving net-zero by 2070, energy storage is expected to play a crucial role in the overall energy ecosystem.

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 levelised cost of battery manufacturing in India is globally competitive.