Ola Electric, Heavy industries ministry sign agreement for manufacturing EV battery cells in India

New Delhi, July 30 (KNN) The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) signed an agreement with Ola electric for the manufacturing of advanced chemistry cells (ACCs) in India.

The agreement was signed between the MHI and officials of the company on July 28.

Both the partners through this agreement aim to localize the critical aspects of the electric vehicle (EV) value chain and make India a self-reliant country in cell manufacturing.

"Signed our PLI agreement with MHI for indigenous cell manufacturing. India will soon be self-reliant on cell technology as we build tech and manufacture locally," Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said in a tweet.

“Today, 90 per cent of global capacity for cell manufacturing is in China. To reverse this import dependency, locally manufactured cell technology is crucial,” Aggarwal said, reports Economic Times.

This development comes as Ola electric had earlier this month unveiled its first-ever indigenously made Lithium-ion (Li-ion) cell. The development of the cell will help in reducing the company's dependency on imports for Li-ion batteries.

Ola electronics have also announced an investment of USD 500 million for setting up its state-of-the-art Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Bengaluru.

BIC will be one of the world’s largest and most advanced cell R&D facilities with more than 165 ”unique and cutting-edge” lab equipment to cover all aspects of cell related research and development, the electric vehicles company said.

The centre will recruit top global talent including 500 PhDs and engineers who will be supported by an additional 1000 researchers in India and multiple other global centres.  (KNN Bureau)