EV batteries

In news that will add urgency to Indian government efforts to establish a domestic storage industry, funding has apparently been secured for 16 GWh-plus production lines in Sweden and Germany. Is India at risk of being left in the starting blocks?

The government is considering financial incentives such as import and export duty waivers to woo battery manufacturers to set up a globally competitive manufacturing base in India.

Following the Indian government’s 40 GW plan for the states, Telangana has pitched for setting up a 5 GW lithium ion plant by announcing the ready availability of 200 acres of land and power and water for the fab at a concessional rate.

The acquisition would be made through Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL)—a joint venture of three public-sector mining units—which recently visited the Lithium Triangle countries in South America (Chile, Argentina and Bolivia) to explore the possibility of lithium acquisition.

The Mumbai-based engineering company, which acquired a majority stake in electric scooter maker Ampere Vehicles last year, is currently building a supply chain for the proposed EV battery manufacturing plant.

As the nation aims for 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022 it is staring at up to 1.8 million tons of PV waste by 2050. A solar waste management seminar organized by consultancy Bridge To India in New Delhi brought stakeholders together to discuss how a PV waste management system could help.

Government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals and the Automotive Research Association of India will combine their respective strengths in technology development and testing and certification to work on electric and trolley buses, EV chargers and battery and charger testing.

All-electric buses will cost the same as diesel options by 2030 – and possibly earlier – according to research into the global EV market which highlighted the potential for India to follow China’s lead in the sector.

The joint venture has started a prototype manufacturing operation in Pune, India, to design, engineer, manufacture and supply Lithium-ion battery packs for 4-wheeler electric vehicles in India.

Rules on the composition of product containers, production line sample sizes for testing and technical information will come into force for manufacturers and distributors operating across the nation.