December 8, 2022: India’s lead battery industry should step up its promotion of the technology to ensure it remains a key player in the country’s burgeoning EVs and energy storage industries, a senior government adviser said on December 5.

Sudhendu Sinha, director of the powerful Niti Aayog policy think-tank — also known as the “brains trust” advising Indian prime minister Narendra Modi — told the International Conference on Lead & Lead Batteries in New Delhi that the industry should be quick to counter any suggestions that new energy technologies could replace lead as a “traditional battery industry”.

Sinha, who advises on e-mobility and infrastructure in particular, said the think-tank had been part of India’s “national mission on transformative e-mobility and battery storage” since 2019.

“We want to become the world’s leading manufacturer of EVs and energy storage systems and, to support this, the government has invested around $7.5 billion in incentives in recent years,” he said.

Sinha said India could not become reliant on any particular battery chemistry or technology and warned that while a number of battery technologies can “co-exist, those that are not focused on safety, the environment, safe and sound disposal and traceability will gradually become extinct”.

He said battery makers should work with the India Lead Zinc Development Association to ensure the benefits of advanced lead battery technology continued to be brought to the attention of policymakers.