Amara Raja To Set Up Lithium-Ion Battery Gigafactory In Telangana, To Invest Rs 9,500 Crore Over Next Ten Years

Amara Raja Batteries Limited (ARBL), one of India’s leading industrial and automotive battery makers, on Friday (2 December) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Telangana government to setup state-of-the-art research and manufacturing facilities for lithium-ion battery-making in state's Mahbubnagar district.

Over the next 10 years, the company intends to invest over Rs 9500 crore, after necessary approvals.

Jayadev Galla, Chairman and Managing Director, Amara Raja Batteries, made the announcement in the presence of Telangana's Industries and Commerce Minister K T Rama Rao.

As the latest in its pivot to becoming an ‘Energy & Mobility’ enterprise, Amara Raja Batteries has chosen Telangana to house the Amara Raja Giga Corridor, the company said in a statement on Friday.

The company said that the proposed facility at Mahbubnagar district in Telangana will have a Lithium Cell Gigafactory with ultimate capacity up to 16 GWh and a Battery Pack Assembly unit up to 5 GWh.

"The initial facilities would include a first-of-its kind advanced energy research and innovation centre in Hyderabad, dubbed the Amara Raja E-hub," the company said.

"This facility will be equipped with advanced laboratories and testing infrastructure for material research, prototyping, product life cycle analysis and Proof of Concept demonstration," it added.

It will cater to the development needs of the Amara Raja as well as to provide a range of facilities open to other players in the energy and mobility ecosystem.

The company said that it envisions the E-hub to serve as a much-needed catalyst for multi-stakeholder collaboration and fostering entrepreneurship in these emerging sectors, in line with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ vision of the Central government.

In addition, as part of its journey towards Giga scale manufacturing of advanced cell technology products, Amara Raja would be establishing commercial scale pilot plant and the first giga scale cell production facility, the company said.

"Towards this, the company had on 3 November 2022 announced the incorporation of a subsidiary named Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies Pvt. Ltd," it added.

Amara Raja has been working on Li-ion cell chemistries specifically suited for Indian subcontinent conditions, and already supplies lithium battery packs and chargers to some two and three-Wheeler OEMs.