India’s Solar and Battery Manufacturing Incentives: PLI Scheme Tracker (2026)
Last updated: October 29, 2026 · Last verified: October 29, 2026
India runs two separate production-linked incentive (PLI) programmes to build domestic solar and battery manufacturing: one for high-efficiency solar PV modules, run by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), and one for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries, run by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Both pay manufacturers for production rather than funding project developers, and both have awarded far more capacity than has actually been commissioned or paid out so far. This page tracks what each scheme offers, who has been awarded capacity, and how much money has actually moved.
India’s Two Manufacturing PLI Schemes, Side by Side
| Solar PV Module PLI | Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) PLI | |
|---|---|---|
| Administering ministry | Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) | Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) |
| Approved | Tranche I: 2021; Tranche II: 2021 (cabinet approval) | May 2021 |
| Combined outlay | Reported as Rs 24,000 crore across tranches (figures vary by source; Tranche II alone was approved at Rs 19,500 crore) | Rs 18,100 crore |
| Capacity target / awarded | ~48,337 MW of manufacturing capacity awarded (combined Tranche I + II), including about 30 GW modules, 10.5 GW cells and 2 GW ingot-wafer | 50 GWh target; 40 GWh awarded to date |
| Commissioned so far | About 4 GW of integrated cell-and-module capacity declared commissioned as of October 2025 | About 1.4 GWh (roughly 2.8% of the 50 GWh target), per a January 2026 analysis — entirely from one awardee |
| Funds disbursed | Not disclosed as having started; a March 2026 parliamentary reply stated no funds had been released as of February 28, 2026 | Not disclosed as having started in the sources reviewed for this page |
| Status | OPEN (capacity awards ongoing; disbursement pending commissioning) | OPEN (additional 10 GWh tender launched 2026 for grid-scale stationary storage) |
Why the Gap Between “Awarded” and “Disbursed” Matters
Both schemes pay out only after a plant actually commissions and starts producing — an awarded allocation of manufacturing capacity is a commitment to build, not a cash payment, and under the solar PLI’s design, incentive payments begin roughly a year after a plant is commissioned. That lag explains why a scheme with tens of gigawatts of awarded capacity can still show zero disbursement in a parliamentary answer: the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy told Parliament that as of February 28, 2026, no funds had been paid out under the Rs 24,000-crore (circa) solar PLI, even though roughly 4 GW of integrated capacity had already been declared commissioned the previous October. Treat “awarded capacity,” “commissioned capacity” and “disbursed incentive” as three separate numbers throughout this page — conflating them overstates how far either scheme has actually progressed.
Solar PV Module PLI: Tranche I and Tranche II
The solar PLI, formally the Production Linked Incentive Scheme on “National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules,” was rolled out in two tranches:
- Tranche I made award letters to three bidders for a combined 8.737 GW of fully integrated module capacity.
- Tranche II allocated roughly 39,600 MW of manufacturing capacity to 11 companies, with Cabinet-approved outlay of Rs 19,500 crore for this tranche; named allottees reported in trade press include Indosol (6,000 MW), Reliance (6,000 MW) and First Solar (3,400 MW) within the integrated poly-to-module basket, though TDE could not independently verify the complete 11-company list against an official MNRE release.
Later Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) notices describe implementation of Tranche II, and some 2026 trade coverage cites a combined Rs 24,000-crore figure for the scheme overall; this page flags that discrepancy rather than resolving it, since no single official document reviewed here reconciles the tranche-by-tranche outlay with the commonly cited total.
Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery PLI
The ACC PLI, approved by the Ministry of Heavy Industries in May 2021 with a Rs 18,100 crore outlay, targets 50 GWh of domestic battery cell manufacturing capacity. As of the most recent sources reviewed:
- 40 GWh of the 50 GWh target has been awarded. Trade-press summaries name four awardees — ACC Energy Storage (5 GWh), Ola Cell Technologies (20 GWh), and two Reliance entities (5 GWh and 10 GWh) — but this breakdown is not fully consistent across sources and should be verified directly against MHI before being relied on for a specific company’s allocation.
- Land acquisition has been completed for the 40 GWh of awarded capacity, per a parliamentary reply reported in March 2026.
- Commissioning has lagged badly: an analysis cited in January 2026 found only about 1.4 GWh — roughly 2.8% of the 50 GWh target — commissioned within the scheme’s original 2025 timeline, and that entirely from a single awardee (Ola Electric).
- A further round is underway: MHI has issued a tender for an additional 10 GWh of ACC manufacturing capacity aimed specifically at grid-scale stationary storage (reported around mid-2026), separate from the original 50 GWh automotive-oriented target. One earlier report describes a 10 GWh bid invitation carrying a maximum outlay of Rs 3,620 crore; whether that refers to the same round or an earlier one could not be confirmed from the sources checked, so treat the two as possibly distinct until MHI’s own tender documents are checked directly.
Who Can Apply
Both schemes are manufacturer-facing, not developer- or buyer-facing: a company applies by bidding for an allocation of manufacturing capacity (measured in MW of module/cell output for the solar scheme, GWh of cell output for the ACC scheme), and the incentive is paid per unit of qualifying domestic production and sales once a plant is commissioned. This is the same structural design as the US Section 45X credit and the manufacturing-support side of the EU Innovation Fund — all three pay for domestic production of clean-energy hardware rather than for project construction. Project developers buying solar modules or battery cells from PLI-backed factories do not apply to either scheme directly; they are customers of the manufacturers that do.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is India’s PLI scheme for solar manufacturing?
It is a production-linked incentive run by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy that pays manufacturers of high-efficiency solar PV modules and cells for domestic production, with roughly 48,337 MW of capacity awarded across two tranches as of the sources reviewed.
Has India paid out any money under the solar PLI scheme yet?
As of a parliamentary reply covering data through February 28, 2026, no funds had been disbursed, because incentive payments begin about a year after a plant is commissioned.
What is India’s battery PLI scheme?
The Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) PLI, run by the Ministry of Heavy Industries, targets 50 GWh of domestic battery cell manufacturing capacity with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore; 40 GWh has been awarded, though only a small fraction had been commissioned as of the most recent analysis reviewed.
Who is eligible for India’s solar and battery manufacturing incentives?
Manufacturers that bid for and are awarded a capacity allocation under either scheme; the incentive is paid to the manufacturer per unit of qualifying production, not to project developers or equipment buyers.
Related The Daily Energy Pages
- Section 45X: US Battery, Solar and Wind Manufacturing Tax Credit (2026)
- EU Innovation Fund: Clean-Tech Grants Tracker (2026)
- India Battery Storage Tenders: SECI BESS Tracker (2026)
- Where Does India Get Its Oil?
Sources
- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Cabinet approval notices for the PLI Scheme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules
- Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha parliamentary replies on PLI disbursement status, via eparlib.nic.in and eparlib.sansad.in (February–March 2026)
- Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage documentation
- Mercom India, PV-Tech, Saur Energy, Energy Storage News and Autocar Pro reporting on PLI tranche allocations and ACC awardees (2025–2026)
Illustrative image. Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source
