With India’s telecom sector investing heavily in green-energy solutions, Panasonic’s local unit has cashed in on the growing demand, generating over $100 million in sales in the last three years supplying lithium-ion battery-based solutions.
The telecommunications sector has become the major growth driver for Panasonic’s energy storage drive launched in 2013 in the South Asian country.
The demand for lithium-ion battery-based systems comes mainly from the push by Indian telecom service operators for environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions to power telecom towers and other services in the country, according to experts.
According to an industry regulator’s report, Indus Towers, the country’s largest telecom tower company, has committed to investing over 5 billion rupees ($77 million) in green initiatives.
Panasonic India says it is betting big on the energy storage business in the country with demand likely to grow on the back of policy initiatives launched by the government to promote the use of renewable energy and demand from other industrial segments seeking energy-efficient solutions.
Seeking to gain traction in the energy storage market, Panasonic and power firm AES India jointly announced last year an agreement to construct a 10-megawatt energy storage project in India to tap the sector’s growing potential.
According to research firm TechSci Research, the market for lithium-ion batteries in India is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of over 32 percent from 2016 to 2021, thanks to increasing penetration of consumer electronics products such as smartphones, tablet PCs and laptops, expansion of telecommunications networks, and growing demand for electric and hybrid vehicles.
By Baishakhi Dutta
