Hindustan Zinc is looking to set up a battery manufacturing facility in India in partnership with US-based battery tech firm Aesir Tech, which will look at zinc battery solutions for various type of applications, Chief Executive Officer Arun Misra told Moneycontrol in an interview on August 2.
The facility could look into other potential metals too, but primarily the focus is on zinc, according to Misra. "The partnership is all about bringing that technology to India and helping them set up large battery manufacturing capacity in India and we being the sole supplier of zinc in it," Misra said.
Misra said that executives of the US-based firm are invited to India and talks will be initiated with the battery manufacturers in the country. Asked about any potential investments being discussed for the facility, he said, "We have not moved into that direaction as of now, we will survey the Indian markets first."
The agreement comes at a time when India is moving away from fossil fuels and increasing renewable energy capacity, wherein battery will have a crucial role to play.
In June, the mining company announced memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aesir Tech, under which it agreed to supply Zinc to AEsir for Zinc-based batteries. The move aligns with Hindustan Zinc's efforts towards exploring emerging applications of zinc in the clean energy transition, it said in a press release.
"We are trying to provide solutions to growing RE Power demand for India for its own net zero commitment. We are mindful of that while EV vehicles would require a different type of battery, the storage solutions in case of in case of solar power would require a different kind of solution," Misra said explaining the rationale of the strategic move.
Aesir specializes in developing next-generation Nickel-Zinc battery technologies. Its batteries are currently in use in the aerospace, defense and critical infrastructure sector.
Incidentially, Hindustan Zinc's parent Vedanta Ltd also entered a pact with Aesir for the supply of nickel, a critical component for next-generation batteries.
As of now, India is primarily dependent on lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries for energy transition.
Meanwhile, Hindustan Zinc posted robust first quarter results on August 2, reporting a 19 percent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,345 crore, helped by strong metal prices.
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