NEW DELHI: Leading battery maker Exide Industries has entered into a long-term technical collaboration with China’s SVOLT Energy Technology for lithium-ion cell manufacturing for electric vehicles.
This partnership comes after the Kolkata-based firm had applied in the Production-Linked Incentives (PLI) Scheme for the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage, issued by the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
Subir Chakraborty, MD & CEO, Exide said, “With SVOLT‘s strong technical expertise, R&D capabilities and rich experience in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, Exide plans to set-up a multi-gigawatt lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility.
Spread out across two popular cell chemistries and three cell formats, this unit shall be uniquely placed to cater to the diverse requirements of customers in India.” At present, India’s lithium-ion need, along with a few other components required to manufacture an EV, is almost entirely met by China. To reduce its dependency amid sour relationship between the two countries, the government is pushing domestic and global players to set up manufacturing units in India.
As part of the agreement, SVOLT will grant Exide an irrevocable right and license to use, exploit and commercialise necessary technology and know-how owned by them for lithium-ion cell manufacturing in India. Additionally, SVOLT will also provide the support required for setting up a greenfield manufacturing plant on a turnkey basis.