India is one of the most active battery storage markets in the world by tendered volume, and one of the least self-sufficient by manufactured cells. Those two facts sit uncomfortably together, and understanding the gap is useful whether you are buying a system or bidding a project.
The size of the gap
As of 2026, India had roughly 2 GWh of commissioned cell manufacturing capacity. China’s cumulative capacity was around 2,695 GWh.
Set against demand, the picture is starker still. Domestic cell manufacturing accounts for less than 1 per cent of India’s approximately 260 GWh demand pipeline from competitive tenders in 2026.
Everything that gap represents is imported. That is the structural fact underneath every Indian storage project.
What the ACC PLI scheme has and has not done
India’s answer has been the Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Production Linked Incentive scheme, launched in October 2021 with an outlay of about ₹18,100 crore (roughly $2.08 billion), targeting 50 GWh of capacity by 2025.
The results so far:
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Target capacity | 50 GWh |
| Commissioned to date | about 1.4 GWh, entirely by Ola Electric |
| Achievement rate | about 2.8% |
| Awarded as of May 2026 | 40 GWh, to four beneficiary firms |
The gap between awarded and commissioned is the whole story. Capacity has been allocated; factories have not been finished. Our guides to the ACC PLI scheme and the 10 GWh cell manufacturing tender cover the mechanism, and our note on the Ola–Axis 20 GWh storage arrangement covers the one beneficiary that has actually produced cells.
Why so slow? Analysts point to execution delays, financial viability challenges, and deep technology dependence on Chinese and Korean licensors. Cell manufacturing is a process industry — yield, consistency and cost come from accumulated operational know-how, not from equipment purchase orders. That expertise is licensed, and licensing negotiations take time.
How far away is self-sufficiency?
Demand for advanced chemistry cells in India is projected to rise from about 28 GWh in 2025 to roughly 272 GWh by FY2030 — a tenfold increase in five years.
More than 226 GWh of cell manufacturing capacity has been announced for construction through 2035. But Wood Mackenzie’s assessment is that execution delays, viability challenges and technology dependence leave India 10 to 15 years from a globally competitive, self-sufficient cell industry.
Both things are true at once: real capacity is being built, and it will not close the gap this decade.
What is happening at pace is downstream assembly. Module and pack assembly plants have been announced and commissioned much faster than cell plants — our notes on the Amperehour, MEC Power and Octillion facilities track that build-out. Assembly is a genuinely lower barrier than cell production, and it is where Indian value addition is realistically growing first — including at our own manufacturing operation.
What import dependence means in practice
Landed cost, not factory cost. Average pack prices are lowest in China; importing regions pay materially more once freight, duties and local costs are added. See what battery cell prices did in 2026 and GST and customs duty on BESS.
Policy risk in both directions. The Union Budget for 2026 exempted basic customs duty on capital goods used to manufacture BESS, which helps domestic factories. Trade measures on imported cells would help domestic producers and raise costs for buyers. A project financed on today’s landed cost carries that exposure.
Domestic content requirements. Some tenders require local content, and given how little domestic cell capacity exists, these are usually satisfied at module, pack or system assembly level rather than at cell level. Our guide to domestic content requirements covers what actually qualifies.
Supply chain concentration. A market drawing almost all its cells from a small number of suppliers in a small number of countries is exposed to disruptions it cannot control — shipping, export policy, or a single supplier’s problems.
What this means for you
- If you are a developer: treat cell supply as a schedule risk with a commercial consequence, and secure supply contractually before financial close rather than after. Delay is what adds to cost of capital.
- If you are bidding a tender with domestic content requirements: confirm at which level content is measured — cell, module, pack or system. The answer determines which suppliers can actually qualify you.
- If you are a C&I buyer: do not wait for domestic cells. What matters more is whether your supplier has a service presence and spare parts in India, so a fault does not become a shipping problem. That question sits alongside the availability and spares discussion.
- If you want to understand a specific supply chain: ask where the cells, modules and assembly each come from. Our team is happy to walk through ours — get in touch.
Manufacturing capacity, scheme allocations, trade measures and demand projections change frequently, and announced capacity is not commissioned capacity. Treat this as an August 2026 snapshot and verify current figures with the Ministry of Heavy Industries and current trade policy before relying on it.