Page 35 - The 10 Most Innovative Green Energy Startups 2019

integration though pilot & demonstration projects at different locations. Apart from these commissioned
projects, ~50 MWh of energy storage projects in India are on the verge of tender allocation or at the
construction stage. Islands like Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep are seeing a large number of the
tender announcement on energy storage by difference agencies like SECI, REIL, NTPC, and others.
The opportunities are there both for the stationary energy storage to help improve power quality &
reliability as well as to help integrate renewable energy sources. Also, it is expected that in the next 3-5
years, Indian’s EV market will also witness exponential growth. Currently, several companies are importing
Li-ion batteries from China, Korea, Japan, and the USA, but there is a growing realization that this is an
area where India has an opportunity to also build a strong domestic manufacturing ecosystem.
India’s energy storage market is currently dominated by lead-acid batteries with annual sales of over 6$
Billion. Various Indian companies have already entered the cell to pack assembling. But there is a huge
opportunity in India for Li-ion cell manufacturing inside the country. Recently Raasi Group has taken
the Li-Ion cell license from Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI) to manufacture Li-ion
battery in India. Similarly, last year Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) in collaboration with Toshiba and Denso
also announced to set up a Lithium-ion battery production facility purely dedicated to automobiles. The
plant is expected to be up and running by 2020 – and will be constructed in a supplier park close to the
carmaker’s production facility in Hansalpur, Gujarat.
Last year more than 137 companies showed their interest to license the Indian Space Research
Organization’s (ISRO’s) Li-ion technology to manufacture batteries in India. More than 110 new start-ups
and large companies attended the pre-bid conference at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Kerala
and ISRO have finalized 10 companies to license its technology for Li-Ion Cell manufacturing including IESA
member companies like EXICOM and others. Munoth Industries Limited has also announced an investment
of INR 799 crores to set up a Lithium-ion cell production project in Andhra Pradesh, which will allow the
smartphone industry to build its battery components instead of importing. Exide Industries Ltd., an Indian
lead acid storage battery manufacturer, and Leclanche, a global energy storage solutions provider, has
formed a Joint Venture (JV) to build Lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries and provide energy storage systems for
India’s electric vehicle (EV) market and grid-based applications.

There is some discussion happening in the industry on raw material availability. The government is already
taken an active step for bilateral agreements with Lithium and Cobalt rich nations like Bolivia, Chile,
Argentina, Congo, Canada, and Australia or to foster the R&D and exploration of raw material mines in
India. Recently, India and Bolivia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development
and industrial use of lithium for the production of lithium-ion batteries.
We are happy about the recently launched the National Mission for Transformative Mobility with Phased
Manufacturing Program for li-ion battery manufacturing by NITI Aayog. Ministry of Heavy Industries has
launched FAME -2 (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) incentives with a budget of Rs
10,000 Cr. India is also focusing on domestic manufacturing for all types of energy storage technologies
including advanced lead-acid, thermal storage and ultra-capacitors apart from Li-ion batteries. Ministry
of Science and Technology is also keen to accelerate domestic R&D capabilities to support this growing
industry through Mission Innovation.
Advanced energy storage technologies can play an important role in renewable integration, energy access,
electric mobility and the smart cities initiatives of the Indian government. We are at a critical stage for
building a manufacturing ecosystem for advanced energy storage technologies in India. Around the globe,
over 200 GWh of advanced energy storage manufacturing capacity is already built and another 200 GWh
of new capacity will be built within the next three to five years.