Amara Raja inaugurates EV battery pack plant, to commence cell manufacturing next year

Along with the battery pack plant inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of the CQP, Amara Raja signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Piaggio India

Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies (ARACT), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Limited (ARE&M), inaugurated its battery pack plant at Divitipally, Mahabubnagar district, Telangana. The plant will build lithium-ion battery packs, which will be supplied to major EV OEMs along with being used for stationery energy storage requirements.

The first phase of the battery pack plant was inaugurated with a current capacity of 1.5 GWh and will be scaled up to 5GW once completed.  The Hyderabad-based firm will also be having an in-house cell manufacturing facility inside the same Gigafactory. The company laid the foundation laying ceremony of Customer Qualification Plant (CQP) for cell manufacturing.

The CQP, which is all set to be operational by Q1 of the next financial year, can produce various cell types for customer testing and validation. The project recently received a fillip after ARE&M’s collaboration with Gotion Inobat (GIB) for technology, manufacturing and customized solutions.

Jayadev Galla, Chaiman & Managing Director, Amara Raja Energy & Mobility said, "Today's groundbreaking ceremony signifies the start of a transformative journey for this region. This is not just a ceremonial milestone but the beginning of our strategic initiative to create sustainable, non-migratory job opportunities for local youth through the Gigacorridor."

He reiterated that AREM is establishing its Gigafactory for battery pack and cell manufacturing with an overall capacity of 5GWh and 16GWh respectively by 2029.  the facility is expected to create direct employment for about 4,500 people and a similar number of indirect jobs, company officials said.

The greenfield facility,  which is spread across 260 acres of land will entail an investment of Rs 9,500 crore till 2031,  will include the advanced cell manufacturing  unit. In addition, the company is also building a first-of-its kind advanced energy research and innovation center in Hyderabad, dubbed the ePositive Energy Labs.

"We anticipate this initiative will play a crucial role in advancing India's energy transition. Having always been pioneers in adopting new technologies, we take great pride in establishing world-class manufacturing units. The CQP is first of its kind in India and will help us develop the perfect cell chemistry for each customer’s requirement,” noted Vikramadithya Gourineni, Executive Director, ARE&M.

Along with the battery pack plant inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of the CQP, Amara Raja signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Piaggio. As part of this agreement, Amara Raja will collaborate with Piaggio Vehicles Private Limited to develop and supply LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) cells and chargers for its EV 3 Wheelers along with developing cells and battery packs for their upcoming 2-Wheeler offerings, produced locally. It had recently signed a MoU with Ather Energy as well.