Manufacturing

In a move to promote indigenous manufacturing, the government has doubled the basic import duty on lithium ion cells—used in manufacturing of lithium ion accumulator for EVs—to 10 per cent from April 2021. Battery packs used in manufacturing electric vehicles face tripled import duty of 15 per cent as against the current 5 per cent.

Aiming to localize production across the electric vehicle value chain, the government will support battery manufacturing at a gigawatt-scale. The initial focus will be on large-scale module and pack assembly plants by the next fiscal year, followed by integrated cell manufacturing by 2021-22.

The revenues of Switzerland-based Leclanché have increased more than 2.5 times to exceed CHF 47 million in 2018 compared to CHF 18 million in 2017.

Following New Delhi based Urja Global, Singapore-based Ojovati and another Delhi-based company Avanze Inventive have signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for manufacturing of Lithium-ion cells and batteries in the state, respectively.

The president of India has approved the Rs 8580 crore viability gap funding (VGF) support for state-run generators to set up 12 GW of solar projects using domestically-made equipment over the next four years.

The German giant – which manufactures central inverters near Mumbai – announced plans last week to acquire Kaco and start a new smart infrastructure business from April 1. In light of those moves, pv magazine spoke to IHS Markit’s Cormac Gilligan about the new kid, albeit huge, on the block.

While India’s solar potential is unquestionable, progress has been uneasy and race-to-the-bottom pricing has held back the adoption of technologies such as MLPE. However, that is beginning to change, writes Prasidh Kumar, CEO of Soreva Energy, as grid modernization requires proactive monitoring and optimization technologies.

The German powerhouse – which makes central inverters for PV projects in India – wants to complete the acquisition by July. Indian employees will be hoping target company Kaco’s disposal of its central inverter operation last month will avert job losses by removing any potential overlap between the manufacturers.

New Delhi based Urja Global will set up an integrated plant for electric vehicles and Lithium-ion batteries at an investment of Rs 200 crore. The announcement comes hot on the heels of US-based Tecchren Batteries’ Lithium-ion venture in the state.

The French power electronics specialist is pulling out of the utility-scale segment to strengthen its profile in the residential and C&I space.