India's push to build a domestic battery-cell industry drew a strong response in its latest tender round. The Ministry of Heavy Industries said on Thursday, November 12, that it has received 22 bids for 10 GWh of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) manufacturing capacity earmarked specifically for Grid-Scale Stationary Storage (GSSS), under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the National Programme on ACC Battery Storage.
Source: PIB / Ministry of Heavy Industries, via Business News Week
The ministry said the technical bids were opened on November 11 at its premises in the presence of the bidders. The tender was floated on the Central Public Procurement Portal on July 15, 2026, a pre-bid conference was held on July 29, and the deadline for submitting bids was November 10. Selection will follow an online, two-stage Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) process, the ministry said.
The bidder list spans energy, power, infrastructure and renewable-energy majors: ACME Solar Holdings, Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies, Avaada Electro, Exide Energy Solutions, Fujiyama Power Systems, GK Energy, Godawari New Energy, JPM Energy Solutions, JSW Neo Energy, Lineage Power, Mahendra Sponge and Power, Megha Engineering and Infrastructures, Nsure Reliable Power Solutions, Reliance Industries, ReNew Photovoltaics, Sai Bioenergy, Shirdi Sai Electricals, Sun Drops Energia, Utex New Energy, Vikram Solar, Waaree Energy Storage Solutions and Zetsol Energy.
A scheme still waiting for its factories
The Union Cabinet approved the PLI ACC scheme in May 2021 with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore to build 50 GWh of domestic cell capacity. Of that, 40 GWh was awarded in two earlier rounds to four beneficiary firms, but progress on the ground has been slow: the ministry told Parliament in March 2026 that only 1 GWh of the awarded capacity had been installed, at Ola's facility in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, and the Hindu BusinessLine reported in October that the scheme had barely inched forward five years on. This 10 GWh round is the remaining capacity, and the first tranche reserved entirely for grid storage rather than electric vehicles.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine
Grid-scale storage is the missing half of India's renewable build-out: as solar and wind generation grows, large battery systems are needed to absorb surplus power, steady the grid and cut dependence on imported cells. The ministry said the response to the tender reflects growing investor confidence in India as an ACC manufacturing destination.
What happens next: the bids now go through the two-stage QCBS evaluation, after which the ministry will award the capacity. The release gave no date for the awards.