Exide Industries on Thursday said it has entered into an agreement with Chinese firm SVOLT Energy Technology Co. Ltd for the manufacture of lithium ion cells.
As part of the agreement, Exide will commercialise the technology owned by SVOLT in lithium ion cells.

Additionally, the Chinese company will provide Exide with the support to set up a manufacturing plant.

Exide said it is in the process of forming a special purpose vehicle in the form of a wholly owned subsidiary for lithium ion cells.

“We are in a fairly advanced stage of discussions for finalising the land parcel for this facility,” Exide said.

The company has participated in the production linked incentive scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery storage.
With headquarters in Jiangsu province in China, SVOLT is engaged in the production and development of lithium ion batteries and battery systems for electric vehicles as well as energy storage.

The company employs around 9,500 people with more than 2,000 research and development team members and over 500 foreign and outsourced experts.

“With SVOLT’s strong technical expertise, R&D capabilities and rich experience in manufacturing lithium ion batteries, Exide plans to set up a multi gigawatt lithium ion cell manufacturing facility,” Subir Chakraborty, managing director and CEO, Exide Industries said.

“Spread across two popular cell chemistries and three cell formats, this unit shall be uniquely placed to cater to diverse requirements of customers in India,” he said.

Exide already has a joint venture with Swiss firm Leclanche SA. With an R&D centre, the subsidiary Exide Leclanche Energy Private Limited (under the brand Nexcharge) plans to build lithium ion modules and provide energy storage systems for electric vehicles and grid-based applications.

Meanwhile, electric-vehicle charging infra provider Tata Power has collaborated with real estate developer Vatika Group to install 59 EV charging points at its properties in Gurgaon.