The federal government has slapped a penalty on a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd for failing to satisfy the deadline for establishing a battery cell plant for which it was granted production-linked incentives, the agency mentioned on Tuesday.
In a inventory alternate submitting, Reliance mentioned its step-down subsidiary, Reliance New Power Battery Storage Ltd on March 3 obtained “a letter from the Ministry of Heavy Industries levying liquidated damages on the price of 0.1 per cent of the efficiency safety (Rs 50 crore) for every day of delay from January 1, 2025.” The penalty was for the “delay in achievement of Milestone 1 beneath the programme settlement executed with MHI in reference to 5 GWh manufacturing capability awarded beneath the Efficiency-Linked Incentive Scheme for Superior Chemistry Cell,” it mentioned.
The liquidated damages or penalty computed until March 3, 2025 was Rs 3.1 crore. “RNEBSL has requested for an extension of time for achievement of the mentioned Milestone 1,” it mentioned.
The agency, nevertheless, neither disclosed the explanations for the delay nor the brand new timelines for assembly the goal.
RNEBSL had in 2022 signed an settlement to construct 10 gigawatt-hour (GWh) battery capability with production-linked incentives for an estimated USD 400 million.
The contract was a part of authorities initiatives to get home manufacturing for a brand new power provide chain developed in India. Apart from RNEBSL, Rajesh Exports and the unit of Ola Electrical Mobility Ltd too had received bids to construct the battery cell crops.
Producers had been eligible for Rs 181 crore value of production-linked incentives on assembly milestones for the undertaking that sought to create a cumulative 30 GWh capability of superior chemistry cell battery storage.
The corporations successful the PLI had been required to realize a minimal ‘dedicated capability’, together with native worth addition of 25 per cent inside two years of the settlement, and 50 per cent inside 5 years.
Reliance had beforehand indicated the second half of 2026 because the timeline to launch operations at its battery Gigafactory in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
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Initially, the plant is to focus on assembling Battery Power Storage Methods (BESS) catering to utility-scale, residential, industrial, and mobility markets. As the power evolves, it’ll develop into cell manufacturing and the manufacturing of battery chemical substances, marking Reliance as a key participant in superior power options.
It would have an eventual 30GWh annual manufacturing capability for batteries primarily based on superior chemistry cell design.
Reliance is an investor and proprietor of corporations concerned in battery growth together with US lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery producer LithiumWerks and UK sodium-ion startup Faradion.
It was additionally an investor in US liquid steel battery maker Ambri and appears poised to take an possession stake together with fellow traders following the MIT spinoff’s latest chapter proceedings
