The leadership team of International Battery Company (IBC), an American firm, that is planning to invest ₹8,000 crore in setting up a proprietary Lithium Nickle Manganese Cobalt prismatic cell manufacturing plant in Karnataka on Monday met M.B. Patil, Minister for Large and Medium Industries.
The company has asked the government to provide 100 acres of land at Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) in Devanahalli.
“The decision on providing land and extending incentives will be taken after discussing the same with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,” said the minister. IBC plans to set up a non-captive gigafactory and invest ₹8,000 crore for land, plant and machinery and building.
The Minister said given the scope for growth of the country’s electric vehicle sector, there was a need to scale up lithium cell battery production.
Venkatesh Valluri, president, IBC India, stated that the country would need lithium cell batteries in the range of about 150 gigawatts of capacity by 2030. “Currently, there is a production of lithium cells totaling around 1.5 gigawatts capacity in the country and there is a huge gap between the demand and the supply. If the proposed plant is set up, the State will get about ₹12,300 crores in the form of taxes in the next 20 years,’‘ he claimed.
