The central government is preparing a new multibillion-dollar subsidy scheme for companies making electricity grid batteries as part of its transition to clean energy, quoting a report by Financial Times (FT) report news agency Reuters said on Wednesday. According to the report, the draft proposal for a production-linked incentive (PLI) subsidy scheme would offer Rs 21,600 crore ($2.63 billion) from this year through to 2030 for companies to set up manufacturing capacity for battery cells in India, the FT reported.
The draft plan seen by the FT acknowledged there was a limit to how much more coal power India could build.
"International opinion" and "environmental concerns make expansion of coal-based thermal generation beyond a limit, an infeasible option," according to the draft plan. Power ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apart from energy transition, domestic battery cell manufacturing is also essential to reducing the country's dependence on rival China for battery imports, the draft plan said. "If India does not take urgent steps to set up local manufacturing capacity of battery energy storage systems, imperatives of our energy transition would lead to huge imports from China," the proposal document seen by FT said.
The government had also approved the PLI scheme for IT hardware with a budgetary outlay of Rs 17,000 crore, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in May.
Meanwhile, The Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture has resubmitted its application to set up an electronic chip manufacturing plant, following the reopening of semiconductor fabrication plant applications by the government.
The news was confirmed by the company as per a report by PTI and other outlets. It was reported earlier that the government may deny funding to Vedanta-Foxconn's joint venture, as it sought incentives in the 28-nanometer chips category.