The battery maker expects to start trial production at its upcoming lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility this calendar year, followed by serial commercial production in the next 4-5 months.
26 May 2025 | 7893 Views | By Kiran Murali
Battery major Exide Industries, which is setting up a gigafactory to manufacture lithium-ion cells, is in advanced stage talks with two leading two-wheeler OEMs and three-wheeler players to form partnerships for cell supply.
“We have been in advanced discussion with two of the leading OEMs for 2-wheelers on the ...
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Battery major Exide Industries, which is setting up a gigafactory to manufacture lithium-ion cells, is in advanced stage talks with two leading two-wheeler OEMs and three-wheeler players to form partnerships for cell supply.
“We have been in advanced discussion with two of the leading OEMs for 2-wheelers on the cylindrical side. Similarly, on the 3-wheeler side, we are talking to some people on the LFP side at a very advanced stage,” Managing Director and CEO Avik Roy told investors recently.
Exide Industries, through its subsidiary Exide Energy Solutions Ltd (EESL), is setting up a gigafactory in Bengaluru to manufacture lithium-ion cells. The facility will have a capacity of 6 GWh in its first phase, which will eventually be ramped up to 12 GWh.
The company expects to start commercial operations in the current financial year. Roy noted that the trial production will start in this calendar year and then start serial production within 4-5 months after the homologation process.
Exide has invested nearly Rs 1,000 crore for the lithium-ion cell manufacturing project in the financial year 2025, followed by an additional Rs 300 crore in April. With this, the total equity investment by Exide in EESL to date is around Rs 3,602 crore.
Though Li-ion cells based on NMC and LFP are popular in the electric vehicle industry, LFP cells are preferred globally, considering their thermal stability, longer life cycle and lower costs. The concerns of comparatively lower density with LFP batteries are being addressed through new technologies and innovations.
“When we started this project, we tried to mitigate the risk through multiple chemistries and multiple format methods. So we have two lines of cylindrical and two lines of prismatic, which means two lines of NMC and two lines of LFP as well. So we see traction on both sides from different end markets,” Roy noted.
While the capacity in the first phase is likely to be equally shared between NMC and LFP chemistry-based cells, Exide Industries will start with the cylindrical NMC line for two-wheeler applications
“We will start with the cylindrical NMC line, which is meant for 2-wheelers, for which we are in advanced discussion with many of the clients. So that will be our first priority. And then take it one by one. Then the next one will be one line of electric prismatic, targeting 3- 3-wheelers and 4-wheelers. So this is how we are planning,” Roy said.
The Li-ion cells manufactured from the factory will cater to both mobility and stationary applications with some of the cells manufactured being common for both applications.
Exide has a partnership with China-based SVOLT Energy Technology, which develops and manufactures lithium-ion batteries and storage solutions for multiple applications. Exide has secured the rights to use and commercialize SVOLT’s technology and know-how for lithium-ion cell manufacturing.
Recently, South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp tied up with Exide to equip future electric vehicles in the Indian market with locally produced lithium-ion batteries based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry.
Exide’s management noted that the product development under the MoU with Hyundai has started, and the company is putting up all the resources to get ready.
“There are three types of engagements we are having with customers right now. Good to see that at least the largest 2-wheeler OEMs, 3-wheeler OEMs, and some 4-wheeler OEMs are engaging with us because they see a value in sourcing local cells,” Roy said.
Exide Industries already has a Li-ion battery pack and module assembly facility in Gujarat with an initial 1.5 GwH capacity. The pack manufacturing is happening through outsourced cells and the company plans to switch to its own cells once the cell manufacturing starts. It is currently making battery packs for some well-known two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturers as well as for telecom applications.
Meanwhile, Exide’s competitor Amara Raja is also setting up a Li-ion cell manufacturing plant in Telangana, which is likely to start operations this year with a 2 GWh capacity planned in the first phase. The Gigafactory is expected to initially start commercial production of NMC cells for two-wheelers by the end of 2026. The company is also looking at a 4-6 GWh initial capacity for LFP cell manufacturing capacity.
Amara Raja has a tie-up with a Chinese company to jointly develop an NMC-based 2170 cylindrical cell, while it has partnered with Gotion-InoBat-Batteries for LFP cells. The company has also recently tied up with automakers including Ather Energy and Piaggio India to supply Li-ion batteries.
Several new entrants such as Ola Electric, Reliance Industries, Tata Group, JSW Group, and GODI India, are also in the process of setting up their facilities for large-scale lithium-ion battery manufacturing.