Industry Odisha Bureau, Aug 28: The Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group has put its proposed 50GWh battery cell manufacturing in Cuttack on hold after failing to secure a Chinese technology partner because of Beijing’s restrictions on technology transfers.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai, JSW MG Motor India Director and MD of JSW Cements and JSW Pains, Parth Jindal said that the group is keen to make cells in India but the difficulty in getting a partner for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology has forced it to change its plans.
“We are very keen to make cells in India. But the LFP technology currently is not available for us. The hunt is on for a technology tie-up. We have not yet secured a technology tie-up, and hence, that project currently is on hold,” Jindal told reporters in Mumbai.
LFP is not available anywhere in the world outside of China, and right now they are guarding it like a weapon, he informed.
LFP is one of the types of battery technology along with nickle manganese cobalt (NMC) technology. LFP is 20-30 percent cheaper and stable chemistry than NMC.
The development also indicates the trouble Indian companies face in building cell manufacturing capacity without access to Chinese technology, with Ola Electric so far the only Indian company to have commissioned a cell plant, with an initial capacity of 1.4 GWh.
The cell-to-pack assembly line of JSW Energy for battery storage as well as cell-to-pack facility for MG, both have already been commissioned, Jindal further informed.
The JSW Group signed an MoU with the Odisha Government in February 2024 to set up an integrated electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility in the state. The proposed project involved an investment of Rs 40,000 crore.
