Battery Storage Manufacturing in India : A Strategic Perspective

India's ambitious decarbonization goals for 2030 – 40% of electricity generation capacity by renewables and 30% of automobile sales as electric vehicles – are expected to create significant demand for battery storage in India. This provides an opportunity for India to become a leader in battery storage manufacturing. However, setting up appropriate conditions would require understanding of the typical barriers faced by a country's industry in establishing manufacturing competency. To do so, this study first develops a novel critical barrier framework by identifying and assimilating barriers to industrial development through comprehensive literature review of innovation systems and industrial development. This framework posits that all the barriers identified within the framework need to be overcome for an industry to be successful. This framework is then verified using international and Indian industrial case studies. This framework is subsequently used to provide suggestions to policymakers for consideration, including on the following: First, clearly identifying target markets; second, potentially exploring the use of protectionist measures; third, enabling entry in the value chain closer to end product, while ensuring appropriate access to infrastructure and resources; and, eventually moving up higher in the value chain, via focus on research and development