IESA Supports ACC Batteries; Government Helps Non-ACC-PLI Firms with Visas

Industry body, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) was advocating for the ACC Battery industry and was seeking parity of policy between ACC-PLI bid winners and non-PLI companies for issuing business visas to foreign experts for the installation and commissioning of ACC Factories in India.

IESA organized multiple stakeholder consultations to gather industry challenges faced by the Indian ACC battery manufacturers & battery component manufacturers and presented the same to the government for resolution. Considering IESA recommendations and industry voice, the government of India has recently created a portal for smoother Business VISA applications for both PLI and PLI-associated industries.

Multiple entry Business Visa (non-extendable) will be facilitated for a period of 06 months to foreign subject matter specialists/ Engineers/ Technical people being engaged by Indian companies under PLI scheme or PLI –Associated Industries by the approval of respective line ministry. This will be applicable to personnel required for Installation and Commissioning, Quality Check & Essential Maintenance, Production, IT & DRP Ramp-up, Training, Supply Chain Development for empanelling Vendors, Plant Design & Bring up, and, Senior Management & Executive.
 
Debi Prasad Dash, President, of India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) congratulated the government’s move and welcomed the step to support in providing business VISA and it will create an opportunity for additional 100+ GWh ACC battery and battery components factories in the next 5 years in India. He also mentioned that the ACC battery and associated components manufacturing sector will attract a cumulative investment of USD 9 Bn (INR 7.5 lakh crores) in next 5 years. The ACC manufacturing industry has the potential to create 50,000 direct jobs during this period.

Additionally, it will lead to savings of forex depletion on account of ACC imports and reduce India’s reliance on China and other countries.
 
To become a global EV manufacturing hub, India must develop a comprehensive and indigenous value chain for EVs & their components. Currently, the manufacturing of ACC battery (which accounts for at least 50% of an EV’s cost) is at a nascent stage in India. China holds over 75% of the global ACC manufacturing capacity.

Additionally, China controls more than 80% of the refining of critical minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt, essential for ACC batteries. In FY23-24, India imported approximately INR 24,346 crore worth of lithium-ion cells, from countries like China, South Korea, Vietnam, and China.
 
The Ministry of Heavy Industry had brought out the PLI ACC scheme in 2022 with a target to set up 50 GWh of indigenous ACC manufacturing in India. 3 bid winners including Ola Electric, Rajesh Exports and Reliance are to set up 40 GWh of capacity by 2028. Driven by the impetus provided by the PLI ACC scheme, 10+ additional companies are setting up ACC giga factories with a collective capacity of over 110-140 GWh in India.

These include EXIDE Energy, Amar Raja, TATA Agratas, JSW Energy, GODI Energy, Nash Energy, Lucas TVS, Log9 Materials, and others. The current move to support getting Foreign Visa (including China) will help the above companies expedite to set up of manufacturing plant.
 
Similarly, without any specific financial support from the govt, the ACC Battery component manufacturing industry is setting up facilities for cathode, anode, electrolyte, separator, and other components to not only to cater to Indian demand but also to export to other countries. These include companies like Epsilon, Neogen, GFL, ALTMIN, Himadri and others. This move will also support these companies in setting up battery components facilities in India
 
The ACC factory setup requires 600+ highly specialized machines and needs foreign experts for a short duration of six months. Unique in nature, manufacturing facility set-up and expertise for setting it up is not available in India. Most of the equipment manufacturers are Chinese and technical expertise required for the installation and commissioning of the plants is exclusively with them.

Although the imported equipment from China has started arriving in India, Indian manufacturers are dependent on Chinese manufacturers for their I&C on site. Indian facilities were expected to start production by end of year but are facing delays because the Chinese suppliers of machinery have not been granted visas to carry out the installation and commissioning on site. With current Business VISA support by the central government will eliminate the above deadlock and catalyse the faster installation and commissioning of Indian Giga factories.

It is important to note that Indian ACC manufacturers, whether PLI winners or otherwise, are setting up gigafactories to jointly support India’s vision of a greener energy mix and clean mobility ecosystem. The industry will provide hands-on training to Indian workers with the Chinese experts’ help so that India becomes self-reliant in this skill set. This trained Indian talent pool will serve the wider cell manufacturing industry – both PLI winners or otherwise.