Exide's Gigawatt-scale Lithium-ion Battery Plant In Bengaluru To Be Ready In Next 27-30 Months

India's largest automotive battery maker Exide Industries will invest up to Rs 6,000 crore in the next 8-10 years to establish a 12 gigawatt-hour lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.

The first phase of the plant (6 gigawatt-hour), which is expected to be completed in the next 27–30 months, is likely to entail an investment of around ₹4000 crore. The state-of-the-art green field multi-gigawatt lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility will cater to new-age electric mobility and stationary application businesses.

“We are a debt-free company and have sufficient reserves. So we will look at internal accruals (to fund the project) and some bridge loan facilities from banks as and when required,” The Hindu Business Line quoted Subir Chakraborty, MD and CEO, Exide as saying.

The funding for the project would mainly come from internal accruals.

In July this year, the company said that it has executed a lease cum sale agreement for procuring land parcel measuring 80 acres at Hitech, Defence & Aerospace Park, Phase-2, Bengaluru with Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).

In Dec 2021, Exide Industries signed a multi-year technical collaboration agreement with a Chinese company SVOLT Energy Technology to set up an INR 6000-crore li-ion battery manufacturing plant in India. SVOLT is a leading technology company that makes and develops lithium-ion batteries and battery systems for EVs and for energy storage.

As part of the agreement, SVOLT will provide Exide an irrevocable right and licence to use, exploit, and commercialise necessary technology and knowhow owned by them for Li-Ion cell manufacturing in India.

Exide is also planning to emerge as a big player in the Li-ion battery market. One of Exide's subsidiaries, Nexcharge, makes lithium-ion battery packs and modules. It is one of the largest such units in India.

Commenting on the import dependence for the lithium and other key raw materials for cell manufacturing, the company said initially it will have to import but expects an ecosystem to develop in future.

The company also expects more lithium mining will happen with surge in demand and short-term rise in the price of the crucial mineral.

The company expects to generate annual revenue of around ₹10,000-12,000 crore from its lithium-ion cell manufacturing business in the next 8–10 years.

Exide already has a 1.5Gwh lithium-ion battery module making facility in Gujarat which has commenced operation.