Ola signs PLI agreement with Ministry of Heavy Industries for local battery cell manufacturing
Jul 28, 2022
New Delhi [India], July 28 : Electric vehicle manufacturer Ola Electric on Thursday signed an agreement with the Ministry of Heavy Industries for local manufacturing of advanced cells in India under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.
Ola Electric is the only Indian EV company selected by the government under its ambitious Rs 80,000 crore cell PLI scheme, receiving the maximum capacity of 20 GWh for its bid in March.
"Today, 90 per cent of global capacity for cell manufacturing is in China, and to reverse this import dependency locally manufactured cell technology is key. The ACC PLI scheme will be instrumental in making India self-reliant and localizing the most critical aspects of the EV value chain," Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO and Founder, Ola, said in a statement.
"At Ola, our roadmap to develop cell technology and manufacturing is vigorously progressing; making us a stronger vertically integrated mobility company across - products, mobility services and tech," Aggarwal added.
Ola had recently unveiled India's first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170 and is investing heavily in developing core R&D to create indigenous advanced cell technologies. To begin mass production of its cell from its upcoming 50 GWh Gigafactory, Ola has already roped in global suppliers from Germany, Korea, Japan and other hubs.
Ola's upcoming Battery Innovation Center (BIC), to be operationalised in August, will be the cornerstone for core cell tech development and battery innovation out of India for the world. BIC will house advanced labs and high-tech equipment for battery innovation for developing futuristic and localized cell technology. The company is also recruiting top cell R&D talent across the globe, and will employ 500 PhDs and Engineers.
