Epsilon Bets Big on EV Battery Cell Materials

May Set Up ₹9K Cr Plant for Making 100K Tonnes of Graphite Anode

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

Rare earth magnet is not the only area where the Chinese dominate the world. They also control two other crucial areas of electric vehicle (EV) battery cell — manufacturing of graphite anode, required for lithium-ion batteries, as well as cathode powder, to make lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 or LFP) battery. LFP batteries go into buses and commercial vehicles (CVs), and are considered safer.

But an Indian company, Epsilon Advanced Materials, is trying to break into the market. It has finalized plans to set up a plant to manufacture these in Karnataka. To begin with, it is setting up a 100,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of synthetic graphite anode-making plant (having an initial capacity of 30,000 tpa) with a total investment of ₹9,000 crore, which will make it the largest non-Chinese operation in the world.