Battery PLI Gets 22 Bids for 10 GWh of Grid Storage Cells: How India Is Building Its Own Battery Industry
The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) received 22 bids for 10 GWh (gigawatt-hours) of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery manufacturing capacity.
This 10 GWh is kept only for Grid-Scale Stationary Storage (GSSS): large batteries that sit in one place and store electricity for the power grid, not batteries for vehicles.
The bids came through a global tender on the Central Public Procurement (CPP) Portal. The last date for bids was 10 November 2026, and the technical bids were opened on 11 November 2026 in front of the bidders.
Winners will be chosen through a two-stage Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method, which looks at both the technical strength of a bidder and its price.
The tender is part of the PLI Scheme for ACC Battery Storage, which aims to build 50 GWh of battery cell manufacturing capacity in India with a total outlay of ₹18,100 crore.
The ministry says this capacity will help store power from the fast-growing solar and wind sector, improve energy security and build a home-grown battery supply chain.
PLI Scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage
The PLI Scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage is a Government of India plan to make modern battery cells inside India. Its official name is the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage. The government pays companies a cash reward for every battery cell they make and sell from Indian factories. The goal is to build 50 GWh of cell-making capacity in India, with a total budget of ₹18,100 crore.
The 22 bids are for the last 10 GWh of the scheme's 50 GWh target. This time the capacity is kept only for grid storage cells, not EV cells. The strong response, compared with 7 bids in 2024, shows rising interest in storage as India adds more solar and wind power.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is a very large set of rechargeable batteries connected to the power grid. It stores electricity when there is extra and gives it back when there is a shortage. You can think of it as a giant power bank for the whole grid. Most BESS today use lithium-ion cells, the same kind of cells that the ACC PLI scheme wants India to make at home.
The 10 GWh tender is the first ACC PLI round kept only for Grid-Scale Stationary Storage. If India builds many BESS projects using VGF but imports all the cells, the money and jobs go abroad. Making these cells at home links the battery-making scheme to the grid-storage push.
- Bids received: 22, for 10 GWh of ACC capacity for Grid-Scale Stationary Storage (GSSS)
- Bid deadline: 10 November 2026; technical bids opened: 11 November 2026
- Selection method: two-stage Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS), through the Central Public Procurement Portal
- ACC PLI scheme: approved May 2021; outlay ₹18,100 crore; target 50 GWh
- Earlier rounds: 30 GWh (2022) and 10 GWh (2024, won by Reliance)
- Round 2 in 2024 got 7 bids offering 70 GWh
- Minimum plant size: 5 GWh; value addition 25% in 2 years and 60% in 5 years
- BESS VGF second tranche: ₹5,400 crore for 30 GWh (June 2025)