Gadkari Calls For Unified Efforts To Make India A Battery Manufacturing Hub, Pushes Mining Firms To Acquire Assets Globally

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari has called for adopting an integrated approach for developing indigenous fuel cells in the field of electric vehicles, an official release said on Thursday (11 February).

Asserting that India today stands at the cusp of becoming a world leader in this field, Gadkari urged scientists, academia and industry to harness hydrogen-based energy in a cost effective and easily available mode in the country.

Chairing a meeting of govt agencies and representatives from research institutions on Wednesday (10 February), Gadkari informed that with nearly 81 per cent of Li-ion battery components available locally, India stands a very good chance for value addition at lower costs, and resultant employment generation at large scales, the release said.

The minister said there is vast scope in the area of Lithium-ion battery too despite countries like China dominating in the sector. India’s mining entities could look for acquiring component assets globally, he said.

He also said that initially one crore vehicles will go for scrapping under the new vehicle scrapping policy, which will result in availability of cheaper aluminium, copper, rubber, steel and other products. He said these will have the potential to reduce the price of battery components.

The minister further said that next generation batteries will not only minimise vehicular pollution in India but make the country a global supplier of EVs.

Speaking at the event, NITI Ayog CEO Shri Amitabh Kant stressed upon concentrating on lithium-ion alternative batteries and supported the idea of mining companies exploring opportunities abroad for acquiring assets in this regard.

He informed that the NITI Ayog has collaborated with four IITs including Guwahati and Delhi for research in aluminium-ion batteries.