Ramping battery cell manufacturing required to meet EV goals

The Electric Vehicle (EV) market is developing at a rapid pace. EVs are gaining attention across the globe as they help reduce emissions. The article sheds light on how battery cell manufacturing needs to be boosted in the current scenario.

- Vikrant Aggarwal

Indian companies are increasingly exploring opportunities to set up battery cell manufacturing operations to meet the demand for components in electric vehicles (EVs). The Indian government is encouraging domestic lithium-ion cell manufacturing, which is being conducted by NITI Aayog. India would have to manufacture lithium-ion batteries domestically to meet its EV targets without relying on imports.

The government initiated the National mission on transformative mobility in 2019 to encourage phased manufacturing programmes for batteries and EV components. The initiative aims to aid in the setting up of an intricate framework of state-of-the-art battery manufacturing units all across India. To support cell manufacturing, the country needs a sufficient supply of raw materials, mainly lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc, through mining grounds within the country or in its peripheral countries. Over the next decade, NITI Aayog proposes to set up mega factories that aggregate up to capacities near 50 GWh, with an estimated cost of $5 billion. This is expected to reduce India’s dependency on foreign imports, thus encouraging the supply of indigenously manufactured batteries.

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