Maruti likely to export Rs 1,000 crore worth li-on cells next year

As part of its effort to build a strong scale and reduce cost, Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest car maker will be exporting Rs 1,000 crore worth lithium-ion cells next year. 

Rahul Bharti, Executive Director, Corporate Affairs Maruti Suzuki shared this at Autocar Professional’s India EV Conclave hosted by the publication along with government of Tamil Nadu this week.

“Of course, we have another plant at the parent level, a Suzuki joint venture, which is making India’s first lithium-ion cells already and we are exporting it also. We will be doing about a 1,000 crore cell exports of lithium-ion cells from India, maybe next year,” Bharti added.

These cells are exported for batteries, which are meant for hybrid vehicles, a space, where the company along with Toyota is driving the creation of a new segment in India.  

The market leader which is yet to enter into the electrification space, said that they would do so with localisation and scale, and two years ago they had announced their first BEV plant with cell level localisation.

A resolution on related party transactions in the FY22 annual report showed that Maruti would export battery packs to Suzuki’s European subsidiary Magyar Suzuki and that the amount would not exceed Rs 1,500 crore in a financial year for the period beginning from FY23 to FY25.

The battery pack exported by Maruti Suzuki would be produced at the factory of TDS Lithium Ion battery  Gujarat Private Ltd. The TDSG is a collaboration between Toshiba, Denso and Suzuki Motor Corp.

India's electric vehicle (EV) industry is on the verge of a groundbreaking transformation, as the highly anticipated discovery of 5.9 million metric tonnes of inferred lithium reserves in Jammu and Kashmir finally comes to fruition.

Initial samples extracted from these reserves have yielded pure battery-grade lithium carbonate, signalling a potential revolution in the country's EV sector.
In February of this year, India announced the discovery of 5.9 million metric tonnes of inferred lithium reserves at the G3 stage in Jammu and Kashmir, marking a significant milestone as the first such discovery in the country. The United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) categorises mineral deposit exploration into four stages: reconnaissance (G4), preliminary exploration (G3), general exploration (G2), and detailed exploration (G1). The government, in fact, is accelerating the entire process and wants auctioning of the lithium mineral block in Jammu and Kashmir. 

India has set ambitious targets to increase the share of EV sales in various vehicle categories by 2030. The vision includes 30% of private cars, 70% of commercial vehicles, 40% of buses, and 80% of two- and three-wheelers being electric.

In absolute numbers, this translates to a staggering 80 million EVs on Indian roads by 2030. Data from the Commerce Ministry indicates that India imported lithium and lithium-ion worth Rs 18,763 crore during April–January FY23.