Battery maker Exide Industries Ltd will invest around Rs 1,000 crore in its lithium-ion cell manufacturing and battery pack solutions subsidiary Exide Energy Solutions Ltd during the current financial year, the company’s management said. This investment is part of the Rs 5,000 crore earmarked for the first phase of its lithium-ion cell manufacturing project.
EESL was set up in 2022 as part of the company’s plan to venture into the lithium-ion cell business. Exide Industries is in the process of setting up a giga plant to manufacture lithium-ion cells in Bengaluru with a capacity of 12 GWh under EESL. The first phase of the project with a capacity of 6GWh is expected to be completed in 2025.
So far, Exide Industries has invested Rs 2,300 crore in the lithium-ion cells business. “As of now, we have invested Rs 2,000 crores in EESL. And earlier we invested Rs 300 crore in the pack and module-making unit. So put together, it comes to around Rs 2,300 crores. Now total investment as in phase one, capex will be approximately around INR 5,000 crores,” Exide Industries Directo of Finance and CFO Asish Kumar Mukherjee said in an investor call.
The investment for the project is being financed through internal accruals and loan financing. Of the 6 GWh capacity that will come up in the first phase, 3 GWh is for Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) batteries and 3 GWh is for Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries.
EESL has over 300 professionals supporting execution across key functions such as sales, manufacturing, procurement, R&D, IT, finance, quality & safety for the lithium-ion cell business. EESL also has a lithium-ion pack and module facility in Prantij, Gujarat, with a capacity of 1.5 GWh.
Exide Industries has a partnership with China-based SVOLT Energy Technology Co Ltd, which develops and manufactures lithium-ion batteries and storage solutions for multiple applications. Exide Industries 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 Industries to equip future electric vehicles in the Indian market with locally produced LFP batteries.