Ola Electric plans battery manufacturing and production of 140,000 e-cars annually.
Indian company Ola Electric plans to invest the equivalent of about $920 million to build what it says will be the world’s largest electric vehicle hub. Electric cars, two-wheelers and their batteries will be manufactured on 809 hectares in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Bloomberg reported (paywall). According to Reuters, 140,000 e-cars per year are to be produced, and an annual capacity of 20 gigawatts (GW) is planned for battery production.
A memorandum of understanding to that effect has been signed with the state government, writes India’s Economic Times. Tamil Nadu, which accounts for nearly one-third of the country’s automotive exports, wants to boost e-vehicle manufacturing by waiving vehicle tax, registration and licensing fees.
Local Supply Chain Planned – Domestic Raw Materials Lacking So Far
Over the next decade, Ola plans to develop a local supply chain for electric mobility, including motors, rare earth magnets, semiconductors and lithium processing, Bloomberg reported. Until now, India has relied heavily on imports in this area, which has also caused problems for Ola, such as delivery delays for electric scooters. The subcontinent, meanwhile, has only a fraction of the raw materials needed to meet domestic demand for lithium-ion batteries. This is also expected to increase 100-fold by 2030, the newspaper added.
As we reported, India recently announced a significant lithium deposit for the first time, but it is still unclear if and when this will become a mining project. Rare earths are also present, yet the minerals have hardly been mined so far. Last fall, the industry called on the Indian government to invest more in the sector to counter dependence on rare earth imports from China.
Photo: iStock/ismael juan
