Exide Industries' lithium-ion cell project phase-I to be completed by FY25

Exide Industries is on track to complete construction of the first phase of its lithium-ion cell manufacturing project in Bengaluru by the end of this financial year (FY25).

Responding to shareholder queries at the company’s annual general meeting, Avik Roy, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) said that the 12 gigawatt hours (GWh) lithium-ion plant would be constructed in two phases of 6 GWh each.

“The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of this financial year, that is, March 2025,” he said.

Exide embarked on the journey to set up the facility in 2021.

The project is progressing well and a team of more than 300 professionals were “actively” involved in overseeing various functions, Roy told shareholders.

The lithium-ion cell manufacturing project is housed under the wholly-owned subsidiary, Exide Energy Solutions (EESL).

In FY24, Exide invested Rs 1,285 crore as equity investment into the project.

“This brings the total investment in EESL to Rs 2,302 crore up to March 2024, inclusive of investments made in the erstwhile subsidiary Exide Energy Private Ltd,” Roy said.

He added, “We are also working towards partnering local and global suppliers for raw materials. And, we are also working on onboarding key customers across sectors.”

While Exide started the lithium-ion cell manufacturing project in 2021, it ventured into this technology in 2018 by setting up a lithium-ion battery modules and pack facility in Gujarat.

Roy said, “This facility is currently operational and is supplying high-quality lithium battery modules and packs to many players engaged in transportation as well as industrial applications.”

Internal projections indicate the demand for lithium-ion batteries to near 150 GWh by 2030, Roy said.

About 70 per cent of it was expected to be driven by the mobility sector and the remaining 30 per cent from industries.

In terms of the supply chain of electric vehicles (EVs), two-wheeler original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have already embarked on EV manufacturing and they are expanding production capacities, Roy added.

“Major four-wheeler OEMs are also planning large scale EV facilities, which are projected to commence operations in the next 2-3 years. This translates into significant potential for lithium-ion batteries for mobility applications,” he said.

 On business outlook, Roy said, “In automotive, in addition to the expected increase in automobile volumes and new opportunities, such as auxiliary batteries, export demand is also rising for lead-acid batteries.”

“For industrial, order inquiry and order flow are healthy across verticals, driven by multiple tailwinds supporting investments across sectors,” he added.