Exide, Amara Raja, Waaree likely to bid for 10 GWh of grid energy storage

New Delhi: The race to secure the final tranche of incentives under India’s advanced battery manufacturing program is gathering pace, with Exide Industries, Amara Raja Energy & Mobility and Waaree Group likely to be among potential bidders for the government’s 10 gigawatt-hour (GWh) energy storage tender, according to two people with knowledge of the development.

The selection procedure was substantiated ₹An incentive of 18,100 million crowns for production PLI Scheme for Advanced Chemical Cells (PLI ACC)

These companies were present at the pre-bid conference on Wednesday and signaled their interest in the tender process. Companies and the Ministry of Heavy Industry that administers them PLI ACC scheme, did not immediately respond Mintuser email inquiries.

Read also | India plans mandatory localization of battery energy storage systems

On 15 July, the long-awaited tender was announced, with the previous tender in September 2024, awarding 10 GWh of capacity to Reliance Industries Ltd.

“The conference held today i.e. 29th July 2026 witnessed the active participation of 29 potential bidders, industry stakeholders, government departments including NITI Aayog, MNRE and Association of Ministry of Power and Industries,” the Ministry of Heavy Industries said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mint had announced on July 19 that the government had reduced the lowest possible bid to 1 GWh of capacity in this latest tender, down from a minimum of 4 GWh in previous tenders under the programme.

Subsidy reduced

New Ministry of Renewable Energy in written response to Mint‘s questions, also stated that the energy storage subsidy was reduced to ₹1,500 per kilowatt hour (KWh) in this tender from ₹2,000 in previous tenders as battery prices have come down over the years.

For the last tender, the applicant must submit a technical and financial offer. The technical offer would cover 80% of the total evaluation weight, the financial offer would cover the remaining 20%.

From the technical bid, 70% of the evaluation will be based on the bidder’s domestic value-added plan, while the remaining will be based on the bidder’s committed capacity.

Read also | Manufacturers of e-trucks and e-buses are seeking another exemption from localization standards

“The challenge with using domestic value addition or localization as a criterion is that there is currently a lack of locally produced materials in India that meet battery standards. The 2021 tender did not consider the bidder’s previous experience in battery manufacturing, which raised significant concerns. However, this aspect remains unchanged in the new tender,” said Reji-Kumar, India Smart Pillai President, Power Bank.

“Another factor is that with the bid criteria of 1-4 GWh capacity, there is a chance that only three or four companies will get the full 10 GWh capacity. That number should be 6-8 companies,” Pillai added.

Bids for the 10 GWh tender will close on 13 October 2026 and bids will be opened a day later.

Increase energy storage

The PLI ACC scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2021 to build 50 GWh of domestic energy storage capacity.

In the first round of tendering in 2022, the government allocated a capacity of 20 GWh Ola Electric, 5 GWh to Reliance New Energy, another 5 GWh to Rajesh Exports and 20 GWh to Hyundai Global Motors.

The capacity allocated to Hyundai Global Motors was canceled after the Korean automaker announced that the company has no relationship with Hyundai or its Indian subsidiary Hyundai Motor India. Rajesh Exports is also under fire as the Securities and Exchange Board of India, in an ex-parte interim order in June, said that Rajesh Exports had misrepresented revenue over ₹15 lakh crore during FY21-FY25.

Read also | CAFE hit a new flashpoint when automakers split into credit deals

In 2024, Reliance Industries acquired another 10 GWh of capacity. The remaining 10 GWh of capacity has been earmarked for grid-scale storage, meaning that the stored energy will be used in the power grid.

Energy storage services are key to the global energy transition because they balance supply and demand by capturing excess clean energy from wind and solar during peak generation and discharging it during periods of low generation.

( tagsToTranslate )1 India Battery Manufacturing 2. Exide Industries 3. Amara Raja Energy 4. Waaree Group 5. Energy Storage Tender