AR, the second largest battery manufacturer in India, plans to build lithium-ion battery assembly plant

Amara Raja Batteries Ltd, India's second-largest traditional battery manufacturer, will build a lithium-ion battery assembly plant as part of a plan to expand the Indian electric vehicle power supply market.

It is said that by 2030, the Indian electric vehicle power supply market will grow to 300 billion US dollars.

The battery manufacturer is building a 100 MWh assembly plant in southern Andhra Pradesh, which is working closely with the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, India.

“Current work is currently underway because we are in the early stages from a market demand and product development perspective,” said company CEO Vijayanand. “We are very focused on building solutions for the early stages of vehicle electrification, while also working with OEMs. Project cooperation."

In India, there are about 3 million fossil fuel-powered passenger cars sold each year, but car manufacturers including Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd. and Ashok Leyland are producing electric cars.

In addition, overseas companies such as Hyundai Motor Co. and Suzuki Motor Co. are considering entering new market segments because the government plans to make new energy vehicles account for about one-third of its car ownership by 2030. However, this shift will be gradual.

NITI Aayog said in June that the country's electric vehicle policy should target two-wheelers, tricycles and public transportation because of its relatively low car ownership. At the same time, the government needs to support the establishment of charging infrastructure.

Amara Raja expects that the battery market for electric rickshaws (small private three-wheeled taxis) will grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 20% over the next five years. The new lithium-ion battery pack is expected to open at the end of the fiscal year, March 2019.

“There is currently no lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in India. Amara Raja still needs to import batteries from manufacturers like LG Chem and Panasonic to assemble battery packs,” said Ali Izadi-Najafabadi, head of smart mobile smart mobile at Bloomberg. “The target annual assembly is very high. This indicates that Amara Raja is primarily interested in winning the second phase of the FAME program, which is expected to subsidize a limited number of electric buses and tricycles."

Indian Prime Minister Modi will announce this week the second phase of the country's accelerated adoption and manufacturing of the (hybrid) electric vehicle (FAME) program, which will include a subsidy program for Rs 55 billion for electric vehicles.

According to the global outlook released by Bloomberg New Energy Finance in May, by 2040, more than half of global new car sales and one-third of the world's car ownership, equivalent to 559 million cars, will be electric vehicles. Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects that by 2030, electric vehicles will account for about 7% of Indian car sales and will reach 27% by 2040.