India gears up for multibillion-dollar battery subsidies

The Indian government is preparing a new multibillion-dollar subsidy scheme for companies making electricity grid batteries as part of its transition to clean energy, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing a power ministry proposal.

The draft proposal for a production-linked incentive subsidy scheme would offer 216 billion rupees ($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.

India's 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.