As per a report by Bloomberg, Handa plans to invest Rs 6,000 crore ($807 million) to produce 100,000 tons of synthetic graphite anode by 2030, or about 10% of the estimated global demand
Vikram Handa, son-in-law of steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal, is setting up India’s first lithium-ion battery parts manufacturer, Epsilon Advanced Materials Pvt, in Karnataka in August.
With this move, Handa plans to challenge the monopoly held by China on the electric vehicle battery producing market.
As per a report by Bloomberg, Handa plans to invest Rs 6,000 crore ($807 million) to produce 100,000 tons of synthetic graphite anode by 2030, or about 10% of estimated global demand.
The report explains that China has been producing more than 80 percent of the world’s supply of these anodes, importing raw materials from countries including India. By producing the anodes in India, Handa aims to transition the South Asian nation from a battery minerals centre to a battery materials hub.
Handa said, “India has great scope for the production of electric-vehicle batteries locally because it has access to the raw materials, a $20 billion manufacturing incentive plan, a proposed battery materials policy and improving prospects for demand.”
“You’re so dependent on cells from China that your cost structure can never really come down,” Handa added.
India has the expertise needed to make the cells, and it has plentiful raw materials like aluminum, copper, electrolytes and nickel, the key elements for batteries, he said, adding that “while everybody keeps talking about lithium, it’s a very small part of the whole raw material that goes into the cell.”
India currently has some battery assembly plants but no cell manufacturers. According to BloombergNEF, EVs account for about 5 percent of China’s annual car sales, compared to less than 1 percent in India.
“If adoption of EVs picks up in India and tomorrow Tesla comes and sets up a factory, then a big chunk of the anodes will be utilized in the domestic market,” Handa said. “We’re confident that the Indian market will develop and we will have first-mover advantage.”
Additionally, Epsilon has secured a patent for the furnace design and expects to file another three patents this year. Currently, it is exporting precursor anode material to China, Japan and Europe.
