India to produce lithium-ion batteries

The government on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding for the transfer of technology for India’s first indigenously developed lithium-ion cells. Indian manufacturers at present rely on imports.

The technology was developed by Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, in partnership with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi; CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata; and CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad.

The MoU was signed between the Union ministry of science & technology and the CSIR-CECRI in the presence of science & technology minister Harsh Vardhan.

“Lithium ion batteries are currently sourced mainly from China, Japan and South Korea among other countries. India is one of the largest importers of these batteries. In 2017, India imported batteries worth nearly 150 million USD,” said a government release.

The technology developed by the CSIR labs can be used in solar cells, medical devices, electric vehicles, power backups, and powering robots.

“It will give tremendous boost to the two flagship programmes of the central government — increasing the share of clean energy by generating 175 gigawatt by 2022, of which 100GW will be solar; and the second being switching completely to electric vehicles by 2030 under the National Electric Mobility Mission,” the minister said.

At present, CSIR-CECRI has a demo facility in Chennai that manufactures prototypes of the cells. Indigenously manufacturing the batteries will also bring down the cost.

“We want to bring down the cost of cell manufacturing below Rs 15,000 per kilowatt. We also have plans to make lithium ion battery for solar rooftop with life span of 25 years to make it affordable to drive the photo voltaic segment,” said C Narasimhan, chairman-cum-managing director of Rassi Group of Companies.

The low cost could also help replace the hazardous lead-acid batteries that are currently in use in many applications. Raasi Group will set up the manufacturing facility in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu.