The government has imposed penalties on a unit of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for missing the deadline for its battery cell manufacturing plant. The company received support for the project under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, but the first target could not be completed on time as per the government's terms.
Reliance New Energy Battery Storage Limited (RNEBSL) informed the Stock Exchange that it received a letter from the Ministry of Heavy Industry on March 3, 2025, with a fine of 0.1 percent for each day of delay from January 1, 2025. So far, a fine of Rs 3.1 crore has been imposed on this delay.
However, the company did not disclose the reasons for this delay, but appealed to the government to extend the deadline.
Big investment under PLI scheme
Reliance received a production-linked incentive support of $ 400 million (about Rs 3,300 crore) by the government to develop a 10 GW-hour (GW) battery production capacity by 2022. Under the scheme, a total of 30 GWH advanced chemical cell battery storage has been set, which promoted companies like Reliance, Rajesh Exports and Ola Electric Mobility Limited.
According to the PLI rules, companies had to achieve 25 % local value in the first two years and 50 % of local production in five years.
Even bigger schemes than gigafectory in Gujarat
Reliance had earlier indicated that the battery Giga factory in Jamnagar, Gujarat would operate in the second half of 2026. Initially, this plant will work as an assembly for the bess energy storage system (bess) that will supply batteries for utility-scale, residential, commercial and mobility markets.
Subsequently, the plant will move on to cell manufacturing and battery chemical production, which will give Reliance a leading role in the advanced energy solutions sector in India. The company aims to achieve 30 gWh annual battery production capacity.
. Source