JSW Group’s 50 GWh battery manufacturing capacity to come up by 2028

JSW Group, which recently bought a 35% stake in MG Motor India, expects to expand its cell and battery manufacturing capacity at its proposed facility to 50 GWh by 2028, according to a senior company official. The company is also in talks with major battery makers for a technology tie-up in cell manufacturing.

The company has planned its cell and battery manufacturing program in three phases. In the first phase, it is targeting a cell and battery manufacturing capacity of 10 GWh by 2026, and will expand it to 50 GWh in the second phase.

In the third phase which is expected to be completed by 2030, JSW Group aims to set up a lithium refining plant with a capacity of 60,000 TPA and a 1-MTPA copper smelter plant.

"JSW is planning to invest in the upstream value chain of battery cell manufacturing especially in Cathode Active Material (CAM)/ Anode Active Material (AAM)/separator etc," as per a company's presentation made at an industry event.

In February, JSW Group signed an MoU with the Odisha government to set up an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing project in Cuttack and Paradip, with an investment of Rs 40,000 crore.

The battery cell manufacturing will primarily cater to the group’s captive consumption for electric vehicles and other battery energy storage programs. JSW Group has an electric vehicle subsidiary, JSW Green Mobility and a battery storage systems subsidiary, JSW BSS.

India is currently in the nascent stages of manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, which is of crucial importance to electric vehicles and renewable energy storage applications. The country depends on imports from China, Japan, and South Korea for lithium-ion batteries.

India’s battery manufacturing capacity is projected to reach 110-1500 GWh by the end of this decade. The government has rolled out a Rs 18,100-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to set up advanced chemistry cell (ACC) manufacturing facilities in India, with a target of achieving 50GWh manufacturing capacity.

Domestic battery manufacturing is expected to aid electric vehicle adoption and localise the supply chain. Battery cost typically makes up for around 40% of the price of an electric vehicle. The high cost of acquisition, primarily due to higher battery cost, is seen as a major hurdle in electric vehicle adoption in the country.

JSW Neo Energy, JSW Group’s renewable energy subsidiary, was among the seven companies that bid for a 10 GWh capacity under the government’s production-linked incentive for advanced chemistry cells. The capacity, was, however, awarded to Reliance Industries Ltd.

Apart from JSW Group, several companies - Ola Electric, Reliance Industries, Amara Raja, Exide Industries, GODI India, Rajesh Exports are also setting up their giga factories to manufacture battery cells in India.

Reliance Industries’ battery Gigafactory is expected to start operations in the second half of 2025. The plant, which will have an annual capacity of 30 GWh, will initially assemble battery systems and packs, later expanding to cell manufacturing and chemical production.

Recently, Amara Raja announced a technology partnership with Gotion High-Tech to license Gotion’s technology for making cells in both cylindrical and prismatic form factors. ENDS

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