Reliance, Ola Electric, Mahindra bid for incentives under India’s

By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s Reliance Industries, Softbank (OTC:) Group-backed Ola Electric and automaker Mahindra & Mahindra have submitted bids under the country’s $2.4 billion battery scheme, the government said on Saturday.

India last year finalised https:// an incentive program to encourage companies to invest in the local manufacturing of batteries as it looks to establish a domestic supply chain for clean transport and build storage for renewable energy.

Hyundai Global Motors, engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, and battery makers Amara Raja and Exide have also submitted bids, the Ministry of Heavy Industries said.

“The program envisages an investment which will boost domestic manufacturing … and foreign direct investment in the country,” the ministry said.

India wants to establish a total of 50 gigawatt hours (Gwh) of battery storage capacity over five years, which it expects will attract direct investment of about $6 billion.

To qualify for the incentives, companies must set up at least 5 Gwh of storage capacity and meet certain local content conditions, all of which would require a minimum investment of more than $850 million.

Ten companies have submitted bids totalling about 130 Gwh, the ministry said.

India was also encouraging global companies https://reut.rs/3ntv4K3 such as Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc, Samsung (KS:), LG Energy, Northvolt and Panasonic (OTC:) to invest.

Clean auto technology is a key part of India’s strategy for cutting pollution in major cities and reducing oil dependence. But electric vehicles (EVs) currently make up a fraction of total sales in the country mainly due to their high price as batteries are imported.

The South Asian country wants electric cars to make up 30% of private car sales by 2030 and for electric motorcycles and scooters to make up 40% of such sales, driving demand for batteries which currently contribute about 35% to 40% of the total vehicle cost.

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