AEPPL signs Rs 4930-crore MoU for Li-ion battery plant in Gujarat

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Japanese joint venture Automotive Electronics Power Private Limited (AEPPL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government of Gujarat for Rs 4,930-crore expansion investment in its upcoming Lithium-ion battery production plant at Hansalpur in Ahmedabad district.

As per the MoU, AEPPL—a joint venture between Japanese majors Toshiba, Denso and Suzuki—will make investment in two phases. In the first phase, it will invest Rs 1250 crore in the setup for Lithium battery pack and module manufacturing, which is slated to be ready by the end of year 2020.

The second phase will involve investment of Rs 3,715 crore. Eventually, the aim is to produce 30 million cells annually by year 2025.

The plant in Gujarat will manufacture and supply Lithium-ion batteries to Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor Gujarat. The joint venture—combining Toshiba’s cell technology and Denso’s module technology—has the equity stake split between Suzuki (50%), Toshiba (40%) and Denso (10%).

The foundation stone for the plant was laid in September 2017, jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In another major development for the state, earlier this year Tata Chemicals—part of the over US$ 100 billion Tata Group—committed an investment of Rs 4,000 crore to set up a 10 GW lithium-ion battery plant in Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) of Gujarat.

Speaking about the investment, Jai Prakash Shivahare, managing director, Dholera Industrial City Development Limited (DICDL) told pv magazine: “The company [Tata Chemicals] will set up 1.7 GW capacity in the first phase at an investment of Rs 750-1000 crore and then scale it to 10 GW as demand rises.”

“As the government is coming up with new incentives, they [Tata Chemicals] may scale up the capacity very quickly,” the IAS officer added.

Notably, known for the ambitious solar park, the Dholera SIR is also going to host Li-ion batteries manufacturing cluster.

“We are developing Li-ion battery manufacturing cluster in Dholera SIR,” Shivahare confirmed to pv magazine while adding that Tata Chemicals has already been allotted 126 acres land in DSIR to set up Li-ion battery manufacturing business.

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