Key facts
- Indian conglomerates Amara Raja and JSW are tempering battery cell ambitions due to China's technology transfer curbs.
- Chinese authorities have tightened controls on graphite, cathode precursors, and gigafactory licensing know-how.
- Reliance Industries paused its lithium iron phosphate cell manufacturing plans after partnership talks with Chinese firms collapsed.
- Ola Electric has delayed or stalled its cell manufacturing timelines.
- India had only commissioned 1.4 GWh of domestic cell manufacturing capacity by October 2025, far short of its 50 GWh target.
- Indian chemical companies have committed billions to battery materials plants, but lack domestic customers for their output.
Indian conglomerates such as Amara Raja and JSW are scaling back their ambitions to manufacture battery cells domestically, a significant blow to New Delhi's clean energy objectives. This slowdown is attributed to China's tightening export and technology transfer controls, which have hampered licensing deals essential for building modern gigafactories.
Over the past two years, Chinese authorities have restricted the transfer of cutting-edge technologies, including graphite, cathode precursors, and the know-how required for cell production. This has forced Indian carmakers and conglomerates, who had planned their manufacturing strategies around Chinese partnerships, to halt or delay their projects.
Reliance Industries, led by Mukesh Ambani, has paused its plans for a gigafactory in Gujarat to produce lithium iron phosphate cells. This decision followed the collapse of partnership talks with Chinese firms CATL and Xiamen Hithium Energy Storage Technology. Reliance is now reportedly refocusing on assembling battery energy storage systems using imported components.
Similarly, Ola Electric, founded by Bhavish Aggarwal, has faced delays in its cell manufacturing plans under the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) program. Chinese restrictions have impacted most aspiring Indian cell makers, forcing them to stall their timelines.
India's Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) PLI scheme, approved in May 2021 with a target of 50 GWh of domestic cell manufacturing capacity by December 2024, has seen limited progress. By October 2025, only 1.4 GWh had been commissioned, all from a single company, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The scheme has not yet disbursed any incentive payments.
While India has announced over 100 GWh of battery manufacturing capacity, much of this refers to pack assembly lines that import finished cells, rather than actual cell production. Indian chemical companies have invested billions in producing battery materials like cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes, but a lack of domestic cell manufacturing means they are exporting their output rather than supplying a local industry.