August 16, 2024: Indian battery giant Amara Raja is set to start commercial production at its new battery pack production facility in the country’s ‘giga corridor’ development imminently.
CFO Y Delli Babu told an investor call on August 5 that commercial operation at the lithium battery cells project in Telangana state was scheduled to start around “10 days from now”, while construction of an NMC customer qualification plant in the area was “in full swing”.
Meanwhile, Babu said the company — renamed Amara Raja Energy & Mobility last September — has seen good traction for its traditional AGM battery sales, particularly in the North American and European markets, over the first quarter of its 2025 financial year that started in April. He did not elaborate.
The firm’s traditional markets in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa have also shown robust growth over the same period, he said. In recent years, the number of countries supplied with lead batteries has increased from 55 to 60.
“Around 7% to 8% is the growth that we have been consistently seeing in revenues for lead batteries other than for telecoms and I think that trend will not be any different as we move into the next years.”
Babu said the company did not rule out increasing capital expenditure to expand lead battery production, but Amara Raja intends to first get the maximum out of existing production capacities.
He also revealed that some 80% of the company’s lead requirements are derived from recycled sources. Amara Raja also buys lead from several companies, including Hindustan Zinc and Lead, as well as importing some lead from other undisclosed sources, he said.
“As far as the Telangana lithium project is concerned, the cells will definitely cater both to the energy storage market as well as the e-mobility market.”
However, Babu said the group’s growing new energy (lithium) business will be competing against several pack suppliers in the country that use largely Chinese-made cells, so the profit margin will not be as profitable as its traditional lead acid business.
It is still too early to start citing any estimates in terms of the lithium side of the business, he said.
Amara Raja broke ground in May 2023 for its 16GWh lithium battery cells factory and research complex in Telangana.
Last January, leaders of India’s Telangana state government pledged further backing to support investment in the region.
Telangana had previously agreed a memorandum of understanding with Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of the battery group, which has been working on Li ion cell chemistries specifically suited for Indian subcontinent conditions.
