June 28 (Reuters) – The Indian government is preparing a new multi-billion dollar subsidy scheme for companies that make batteries for the electricity grid as part of its transition to clean energy, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing a proposal from the Ministry of Energy.
The draft proposal for a production-linked incentive subsidy scheme would offer 216 billion rupees ($2.63 billion) from this year to 2030 for companies to establish battery cell manufacturing capacity in India, it reported. ft.
The draft plan seen by the FT acknowledged that there was a limit to the amount of coal power India could build.
“International opinion” and “environmental concerns… make the expansion of coal-fired thermal generation beyond a limit an unfeasible option,” according to the draft plan.
India’s energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the energy transition, domestic manufacturing of battery cells is also essential to reduce the country’s reliance on rival China for battery imports, according to the draft plan.
“If India does not take urgent steps to establish a local manufacturing capacity for battery energy storage systems, the imperatives of our energy transition would lead to large imports from China,” the proposal document seen by the FT said.
($1 = 81.9830 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bangalore; Edited by Christopher Cushing and Jamie Freed
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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