With ever-increasing electric vehicle (EV) sales, India’s next question is whether it can establish a battery ecosystem to support the continued penetration of EVs.
India has entered a high-growth phase of EV sales. CNBC TV18 cited the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles’ prediction that EV sales, including electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and buses, in India for 2022 would be one million, equal to total EV sales for the past 15 years.
According to Vahan Dashboard, India’s EV registration grew from 134,832 units in fiscal 2021 (April 2021 to March 2022) to 487,014 units in fiscal 2022, with electric two-wheelers growing from 41,048 units to 229,815 units over the same period.
Rapidly-increasing EV sales is good news for India to reduce oil imports and alleviate air pollution. Still, the battery supply and charging networks have to keep up with EVs’ development. According to CEEW Center for Energy Finance, the automobile industry would require an estimated annual battery capacity of 158GWh by fiscal 2030.
In March, India announced a list of companies eligible for the INR181 billion Production Linked Incentive for Advanced Chemistry Cell to bring about 50GWh cell capacity per year and reduce its dependence on imports from China.
Some companies have started to explore the opportunity of EV batteries. In less than three months, Reliance Industries has acquired British sodium-ion battery startup Faradion and LFP battery manufacturer Lithium Werks. Suzuki Motor announced an investment plan of JPY150 billion (US$1.19 billion) to set up an EV battery plant in Gujarat, India.
Siddharth Agrawal, director of Godawari e-Mobility, writing for Financial Express, noted that recycled materials from spent batteries will be able to produce 60GWh lithium-ion batteries. India’s government proposed new rules for battery waste management to make it mandatory for manufacturers and dealers to collect used batteries.
Swarajyamag reported that Crisil, an Indian credit rating company, issued a report that due to parity of ownership cost with ICE vehicles, sales of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers are expected to rise even without government subsidies.
