Amara Raja-backed Log9 Materials sets up India’s first Lithium-ion cell facility

The company's plant has an initial capacity of 50 MWh

Amara Raja-backed Log9 Materials, which had earlier outlined an outlay of Rs 2,350 crore over the next few years,  inaugurated the country's first lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in Bengaluru. The battery technology startup had earlier told Moneycontrol that it will be investing Rs 150 crore on building a cell manufacturing facility.

Log9’s commercial Li-ion cell production facility, which will have an initial capacity of 50 Megawatt hours (MWh), will be located at its campus in Jakkur, Bengaluru. This facility will cater to LTO (Lithium titanate (LTO) and LFP ((lithium ferrophosphate) cell manufacturing, the company said.

The manufacturing line will support production of large form factor cylindrical cells ranging from 22 Series to 66 Series. On the 5-year cell production roadmap, Log9’s LTO TiB cells will contribute to a carbon emission reduction of 90T per vehicle with a total CO2 reduction of 147 kT every year, as stated by the company in its release.

"Our cells are designed from the ground-up in India, for India; to suit Indian operating conditions, climate, and customers, and are hence going to play a crucial role in making India self-reliant while helping the nation realise its ambitious electric mobility vision," Log9 Materials Co-Founder & CEO Akshay Singhal said in a statement.

While the company didn’t share any further details, sources have indicated  that the indigenously-developed battery cells will be integrated with locally-built battery packs that power electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers.

Apart from Log9 Materials, Bhavish-Aggarwal-led Ola Electric had also announced its plans to build battery cells from its greenfield facility by 2023. The Softbank-backed startup, which has has been allotted a capacity of 20GWh under the ACC PLI scheme by the government, would be hiring around 500 engineers and PhDs once the facility goes on stream.

Apart from establishing its new cell manufacturing facility, Log9 will be spending nearly Rs 200 crore will be spent on expanding its existing battery pack facility. The company has deployed almost 3,000 batteries in EVs which have covered around 5.5 million kms.

(With agency inputs)