India's largest lithium-ion battery plant starts production in Gujarat

Indian battery maker Exide Industries and joint venture partner Switzerland's Leclanche SA have begun mass production at the nation's largest lithium-ion battery plant in the western state of Gujarat, the companies said on Thursday.

The plant, with total installed capacity of 1.5 Gigawatt hours (GWh), has six automated assembly lines on which it will produce batteries for automobiles and energy storage applications, the joint venture company, Nexcharge, said in a statement.

The push by Nexcharge comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is giving billions of dollars in incentives to companies to build clean cars and their components, including batteries, locally.

Nexcharge has