China’s Envision Group is considering building a battery manufacturing plant in India to support the country’s push to integrate more renewable energy into its power grid, Bloomberg reported. The potential project would procure battery cells from China while producing racks and software infrastructure locally, with a decision expected within the next 18 months, according to Suman Nag, Envision’s global head for contracts.
India’s rapid renewable energy expansion has been hindered by a shortage of energy storage systems, with battery storage capacity currently under one gigawatt. Experts and investors anticipate significant growth, with BloombergNEF projecting capacity could reach 46 gigawatts by 2032. Envision aims to enter the sector with a 5 GWh-a-year, $34 million facility once the market matures.
Nag highlighted the potential value of localizing production, saying, “Just passing the equipment through our books and counting it as sales adds no value to our company in India.” He emphasized the importance of energy storage for grid stability, noting that batteries can manage fluctuations in power supply in milliseconds, a task that conventional coal plants handle much more slowly.
Despite the growth potential, Nag raised concerns about inexperienced companies aggressively participating in battery tenders. He cited a recent Rajasthan auction in which winners included a consumer goods firm and a packaged rice seller, raising questions about their technical and commercial capacity to execute such projects.
The initiative reflects growing interest from both global and domestic investors in India’s energy storage sector, which is viewed as critical for achieving the country’s renewable energy targets and supporting a reliable and stable power grid.
