Energy Storage

The Finnish clean energy major will install public charging stations for electric vehicles across MG’s showrooms in 5 cities including Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad by September this year.

Previously, a mere €240 million (Rs1,870 crore) was set to flow into the giga-factory. The corporation’s management reasoned new demand for its battery cells made more investment necessary.

The German battery manufacturer will make products for electric trucks and buses at the facility, which is expected to employ 200 workers and produce 400 megawatt-hours of batteries annually.

Mining company Neometals and Manikaran Power have started a jointly funded study into the feasibility of establishing India’s first lithium refinery, which would process ore from the Mount Marion mine in Western Australia.

Bidders can now lodge their interest until July 1 and are required to submit any amendments, signed and stamped, along with the bid.

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 preliminary proposals must reach the ministry by June 30. These will be examined by a committee and the shortlisted parties will be invited to submit final proposal.

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.