India readies Rs 12,000 crore push for local battery component manufacturing

New Delhi: India is readying an incentive scheme to support local manufacturing of advanced cell battery components, officials said.

Manufacturing of cathode active materials (CAM), anode active materials (AAM), electrolysers and copper foil separators will be supported under this scheme with a likely allocation of about ₹12,000 crore via financial support, they said.

India is currently completely dependent on imports for these components crucial to advanced chemistry cell battery manufacturing.


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"The battery component incentive scheme is in final stages of approval," one of the officials told ET, adding funding support will come with attached conditions to encourage domestic manufacturing and setting up of supply chains.

"We don't want companies to import end products or perform last stage processing and claim incentives," the official said.

India has been doubling down on its import substitution push as the country seeks to push ahead in new age manufacturing of emission free vehicles, defence, and space applications.

The ministry of heavy industries already runs a ₹18,100-crore production-linked scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery manufacturing aiming to create 50-gigawatt hour (GWh) capacity in the country.

"The component scheme is expected to supplement battery manufacturing capacity being set up in the country," the official added.

According to industry estimates, India will need more than 200 thousand tonnes of AAM, and more than 400 thousand tonnes of CAM by 2030 to support around 223 GWh domestic battery manufacturing capacity.

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Globally, the demand for copper foil is rising in new batteries as manufacturing capacity grows.

At present, Chinese companies own as much as 80% of the copper foil capacity globally followed by Korean manufacturers who command 20% of the production, according to the International Copper Association of India's report on battery supply chain indigenisation.

Industry has also sought import tax breaks to support domestic manufacturing.

"A call on duty waivers is yet to be taken," a second official said.

Budget 2026-27 extended the basic customs duty exemption given to capital goods used for manufacturing lithium-ion cells for battery energy storage systems.