India Battery Manufacturing Vision aims 500GWh annual capacity by 2035; to bring USD 35 billion investments

Industry body India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) on Friday unveiled its 'India Battery Manufacturing Vision' targeting over 500GWh capacity by 2035, having potential to create over 2.6 million jobs and bring investment worth USD 35 billion in the country.

IESA is focused on the development of advanced energy storage, green hydrogen, and e-mobility technologies in India.

"IESA has also set a vision to further scale this capacity to over 500 GWh by 2035 considering the demand growth for both stationary storage and e-mobility in India," said Rahul Walawalkar, Chair, WESD, Founder and President of IESA, and president & MD, Customized Energy Solutions (CES) India, in a statement.

He explained that with 'India Battery Manufacturing Vision', the country can generate over 2.6 million jobs and bring in USD 35 billion investments by 2035.IESA is anticipating that the first gigafactory (manufacturing facility that produces components linked to electrification and decarbonization technologies) in India will start commercial production in 2024 and installed manufacturing capacity of ACC (Advanced chemistry cell) batteries should scale to over 50 GWh by 2027-28.

Based on current announcements, Indian gigafactories should scale to over 150 GWh annual capacity by end of 2030.In addition, there is a great opportunity for localising key components of gigafactories such as cathode-anode separator, electrolytes etc. With the need for alternate supply chain in developed markets such as US and European Union, he noted.

Indian battery supply chain industry could scale to over 1,000 GWh manufacturing capacity with enabling policy and regulatory framework, he pointed out, saying, "We are excited with the immense response received from Niti Aayog, MHI (Ministry of Heavy Industries) and Ministry of Mines for this vision."

The estimates of the IESA is based on the deliberations made by industry players and experts from over 70 countries during Global Virtual Conference & Expo on the occasion of the World Energy Storage Day (WESD) 2023 last month.

The experts also discussed how energy storage and electric mobility can align with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for a greener India.

The conference's focus on e-mobility trends in the R2 region, encompassing India and SAARC nations, provided a powerful platform for stakeholders to delve into the nuances of EV adoption."India is becoming a manufacturing hub for EVs, led by robust local manufacturing and an innovative ecosystem.

Not just in terms of assembly, the country is spearheading innovation in the engineering and R&D front as well, especially in the E2W space, primarily led by the domestic demand," said Swapnil Jain, CTO of Ather Energy, in the statement.

Founded in 2012, by Customized Energy Solutions (CES), IESA's vision is to make India a global hub for R&D, manufacturing, and adoption of advanced energy storage, e-mobility, and green hydrogen technologies.

Presently, IESA is a network of over 160 member companies, including those related to energy storage, EV manufacturing, EV charging infrastructure, green hydrogen, microgrids, power electronics, renewable energy, research institutes and cleantech startups.