Still commissioning your gigafactory on six-month visas? That is like trying to run a marathon in flip-flops - you will move, but you will not finish strong.

The problem

India is racing to stand up lithium-ion cell lines under the PLI ACC scheme, yet commissioning teams for Chinese-supplied equipment are hitting visa bottlenecks and short stays. The result: stretched commissioning schedules, slower quality validation, and warranty clocks that start before lines hit stable yield. For EV makers and grid storage projects, this translates into delayed SOPs, tighter cash cycles, and higher project risk.

What is actually happening

• India’s Production Linked Incentive for Advanced Chemistry Cell battery storage was approved in 2021 with a ₹18,100 crore outlay to build 50 GWh of capacity. It is technology-agnostic, with incentives tied to domestic value addition milestones, and has already allocated capacity to leading players such as Reliance New Energy under a 10 GWh programme agreement, as noted in this government release, NITI Aayog’s ACC brief, and PV Magazine India.
• But battery lines sourced from Chinese OEMs still rely on onsite Chinese technicians for installation, tuning, and SAT. India introduced a fast-track portal to expedite business visas for Chinese technicians serving PLI-linked firms, targeting shorter processing and enabling up to six-month stays, per China Briefing, and officials signal the backlog is easing, as reported by Financial Express and Economic Times.
• Even with faster visas, short-duration entries and sporadic approvals complicate commissioning choreography across multiple toolsets and shifts. That increases line-ramp variability and can push warranty obligations into gray zones if acceptance criteria are not airtight.

Why this matters for India’s battery ecosystem

Cell plants do not ramp like assembly. Anode-coating, calendering, formation, and end-of-line testing need coordinated process windows to achieve qualified yields. Interruptions from unavailable specialists or compressed onsite schedules raise scrap rates and slow PPAP-equivalent validation. For EVs, that jeopardizes 2025-2026 model launches. For grid storage, it risks missing tender delivery windows even as storage demand accelerates, as framed in RMI’s overview of ACC energy storage in India.

The 2026 de-risking playbook

You cannot control visas, but you can control your commissioning risk. Here is how:

• Multi-vendor equipment sourcing - Avoid single points of failure. Split the line across at least two OEMs where interfaces allow, and standardize on open protocols for MES, BMS flashing, and data capture. Map functional equivalence so critical stations have interchangeable spares and service options.
• Remote commissioning first - Mandate full remote FAT with production-representative materials, streamed SPC, and video documentation before shipment. Use digital twins of the cell line to simulate process windows and failure modes. Keep onsite SAT focused on utilities hook-up, interlocks, and yield verification, not first-time tuning.
• Third-country technical hubs - Stage OEM experts in proximate hubs with easier access (for example, Singapore, UAE) and run hybrid remote support. Rotate shorter onsite stints from those hubs while maintaining continuous process oversight.
• Local workforce upskilling - Build a resident commissioning bench. Leverage EV skilling programs under NSDC and industry partnerships to grow battery line competencies in quality control, diagnostics, and Industry 4.0. Recent initiatives such as the IGNiTE 4.0 program to train technicians in EV service and product testing are a template for battery manufacturing skills, as covered by ET Auto and NSDC.
• Contract language that survives visa turbulence - Bake risk handling into MSAs and SLAs: detailed acceptance criteria tied to statistical process control metrics, warranty start at SAT sign-off not shipment, defined remote-support SLAs, and explicit Force Majeure clauses covering visa disruptions. Include step-in rights to use vetted third-party integrators if OEM staff are unavailable.
• Spare parts and consumables logistics - Hold vendor-managed inventory for wear parts and calibration consumables in-country. Create a critical-spares bill with time-to-failure models and reorder triggers. Dual-source generic spares where possible to avoid import bottlenecks.
• Data-first ramp management - Instrument the line for high-frequency data capture. Run yield dashboards against golden-batch baselines, and lock parameter changes behind change-control with remote audit trails. This reduces dependence on specific individuals and speeds root-cause analysis.

Evidence points worth keeping in view

• PLI ACC’s structure is designed to reward domestic value add and scale, providing financial headroom to invest in better commissioning practices and local skills, as outlined in NITI Aayog’s brief.
• The government has moved to streamline visas for Chinese technicians supporting PLI-linked firms. The portal and revised SOPs aim to reduce processing time and allow six-month stays, per China Briefing, with industry reports noting the backlog is easing in Financial Express and Economic Times.

Bottom line

Visa workflows will improve, but smart factories win by design, not luck. If India’s EV and grid battery ambitions under PLI ACC are to hit 2026 timelines, commissioning must be engineered for resilience: fewer single points of failure, more remote-first validation, and contracts and skills that absorb scheduling shocks. The payoff is faster yield ramp, cleaner warranty alignment, and less drama when the next visa update lands.