Ola Electric, Reliance among 3 companies picked to make EV batteries in India

Ola Electric will be among three Indian companies to work on developing locally manufactured electric vehicle battery cells in an effort to boost EV infrastructure in the country. Ola Electric, along with Reliance New Energy and Rajesh Exports, have signed agreements under the Centre's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme worth ₹18,100 crore. Ola Electric, which currently manufactures electric scooters, is also aiming to introduce its first electric car soon. The EV maker is already on a hunt to find partners to set up a new facility where it will develop EV batteries as well as work on the electric car.

The three companies, which have been finalised under the Centre's PLI scheme, are expected to create battery manufacturing capacity of 95 GWh. They will be required to set up manufacturing facility within a period of two years. The incentives will be given out the companies for the next five years on sale of EV batteries manufactured. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister for Heavy Industries, said, “This will be favourable to EV ecosystem and energy storage market as it will support the demand for EVs and renewable and attract investment in this sector."

Ola Electric and the other two companies were selected from a group of 10 bidders who were vying for an opportunity to set up 128 GWh capacity manufacturing facility under the PLI Scheme.

Ola Electric had earlier showcased an indigenous lithium-ion battery cell that is set to be produced from next year. The battery comes as a high nickel cylindrical cell and uses NMC on the cathode side; and graphite and silicon on the anode side, claims Ola Electric. Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO at Ola Electric, had said, "Ola is building the world's most advanced cell research centre that will enable us to scale and innovate faster, and build the most advanced and affordable EV products in the world with speed. Our first indigenously made Li-ion cell is also the first of many in our cell technology roadmap. Having a robust local EV ecosystem is important for India to become a global EV hub,"

The Centre had earlier launched the PLI scheme under three categories. The first two is for the auto sector worth ₹25,938 crore, and the FAME policy worth ₹10,000 crore. The third one is for Advanced Chemistry Cell. Together, this scheme is expected to help India to expand the EV ecosystem in the country and help become a major hub for EV manufacturing.