India’s battery manufacturing revolution just hit critical mass. The country’s installed capacity rapidly approaches 60 GWh and projects to hit 100 GWh by next year, according to experts at the Renewable Energy India Expo 2025 held in Greater Noida. This remarkable growth reflects India’s commitment to expanding its clean energy ecosystem, primarily driven by rising demand for electric vehicles requiring substantial battery supplies and grid-scale energy storage systems enabling renewable energy integration by storing excess generation for discharge during demand peaks.
Key industry voices highlighted automation, innovative technologies, and strategic collaborations as pivotal factors driving the sector’s advancement, transforming India from a battery importer into an emerging manufacturing hub potentially serving domestic and export markets. The surge stems from investments in advanced manufacturing technologies and government incentives under schemes like the Production-Linked Incentive programme aimed at boosting domestic lithium-ion battery production, reducing import dependencies that previously constrained electric vehicle adoption and renewable energy deployment.
Automation efficiencies exceeding 95%, including sophisticated six-axis robotics, enable India to produce large 625Ah, 12kg cells at scale—demonstrating significant strides in technical capability and localisation previously dominated by Chinese, South Korean, and Japanese manufacturers controlling global battery supply chains. Experts also emphasised the emergence of sodium-based battery technologies, which are safer, more recyclable, and ideal for grid-level energy storage applications where energy density matters less than cost, safety, and environmental impact.
Rapid Capacity Expansion Driven by Policy Support
India’s installed battery capacity, now nearing 60 GWh, maintains a fast growth trajectory expected to reach 100 GWh by the end of 2026, representing near doubling within eighteen months through aggressive capacity additions by domestic and international manufacturers. This surge is fuelled by investments in advanced manufacturing technologies including automated production lines, precision assembly systems, and quality control mechanisms ensuring consistent output meeting international standards for automotive and grid storage applications.
Government incentives under Production-Linked Incentive schemes provide financial support for domestic lithium-ion battery production, reducing capital costs and improving project economics that previously made Indian manufacturing uncompetitive against established Asian suppliers benefiting from economies of scale. Automation efficiencies exceeding 95% utilisation rates, including sophisticated six-axis robotics handling delicate cell assembly processes, enable India to produce large 625Ah, 12kg cells at scale comparable to international benchmarks whilst reducing labour costs and improving consistency.
The technical capability advancement demonstrates significant strides in localisation previously dominated by Chinese manufacturers controlling over 70% of global lithium-ion battery production through integrated supply chains spanning raw materials through finished cells. Experts emphasised the emergence of sodium-based battery technologies offering alternatives to lithium-ion chemistry where raw material availability, safety characteristics, and recyclability advantages offset lower energy density that matters less for stationary grid storage than portable electric vehicle applications. Sodium-based batteries prove safer with reduced fire risks, more recyclable using abundant materials avoiding cobalt and lithium supply constraints, and ideal for grid-level energy storage where space constraints prove less critical than for weight-sensitive automotive applications.
Integration With National Renewable Energy Targets
The push to expand battery capacity complements India’s ambitious targets for renewable energy deployment reaching 500 GW by 2030, making battery storage critical enablers of grid stability and renewable integration addressing intermittency challenges from solar and wind generation. The country aims to exceed 250 GW renewable energy capacity by 2025, with pipelines set for 500 GW by 2030, requiring substantial energy storage capabilities managing variability between generation and consumption patterns that previously constrained renewable penetration rates.
To support this, the Ministry of Power approved ₹5,400 crore Viability Gap Funding scheme targeting 30 GWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems, in addition to 13.2 GWh of projects already underway providing grid-scale storage capabilities. These efforts expect to attract ₹33,000 crore in investments by 2028, underscoring the scale of opportunity and government commitment in India’s clean energy transition requiring coordination across generation, transmission, distribution, and storage infrastructure.
Experts noted that hybrid renewable-plus-storage projects combining solar or wind generation with co-located batteries, grid-scale battery installations at substations, and pumped hydro storage will dominate the evolving clean energy landscape addressing different duration and scale requirements. Battery costs project to decrease from ₹1.77 per unit to ₹1.2 per unit over the next five years through manufacturing scale, technology improvements, and supply chain optimisation, approaching cost parity between solar power and storage that accelerates clean energy adoption. This milestone would enable solar-plus-storage systems competing directly with conventional thermal generation on economic grounds without subsidies, fundamentally transforming energy economics and accelerating fossil fuel displacement across industrial, commercial, and residential sectors.
Technology Innovation Through Strategic Partnerships
The growth in battery manufacturing links closely to innovation and collaboration between industry and research institutions accelerating technology transfer and reducing time from laboratory research to commercial deployment that typically spans decades without focused partnerships. Industry leaders like Encore Systems highlighted partnerships with premier institutes including IIT Roorkee and NIT Hamirpur, aimed at accelerating research on next-generation energy storage solutions including solid-state batteries, advanced chemistries, and recycling technologies addressing end-of-life management.
These collaborations help boost India’s domestic capabilities and reduce reliance on imports, building more resilient and self-sufficient supply chains reducing vulnerabilities to international trade disruptions, geopolitical tensions, or strategic export restrictions affecting critical technology access. The integration of digital twin technology creating virtual replicas of manufacturing processes and artificial intelligence optimising production parameters makes battery manufacturing smarter and more efficient, facilitating better grid integration and operational performance through predictive maintenance and quality control.
This fusion of technology and local expertise positions India’s battery sector to meet future demand whilst advancing sustainability goals through domestically controlled supply chains, technology sovereignty, and reduced carbon footprints from shortened logistics distances compared to imported batteries. The rapid expansion of battery manufacturing carries significant economic implications including thousands of direct manufacturing jobs, indirect employment across supply chains including raw material processing and component manufacturing, and research positions in universities and corporate laboratories.
More importantly, increased availability of domestically produced batteries will boost electric vehicle adoption by reducing costs through eliminated import duties and improved supply security addressing previous delivery uncertainty, aligning with India’s carbon reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement. India’s battery manufacturing sector enters new phases of rapid growth and innovation, with capacity poised to reach 100 GWh by next year through investments in advanced manufacturing technologies, government Production-Linked Incentive schemes, and automation efficiencies exceeding 95% enabling large 625Ah cell production at scale. The emergence of sodium-based battery technologies offering safety, recyclability, and grid storage advantages complements lithium-ion production, whilst ₹5,400 crore Viability Gap Funding for 30 GWh Battery Energy Storage Systems and 13.2 GWh of projects underway support integration with India’s ambitious 500 GW renewable energy target by 2030.
Strategic collaborations between industry leaders like Encore Systems and premier institutes including IIT Roorkee accelerate technology transfer and next-generation storage solutions, whilst digital twin technology and artificial intelligence optimise manufacturing efficiency and grid integration. As battery costs project to decrease from ₹1.77 to ₹1.2 per unit within five years, India approaches cost parity between solar power and storage, fundamentally transforming energy economics whilst generating thousands of jobs and strengthening the country’s position as a key player in the global clean energy transition through domestically controlled supply chains and technology sovereignty.