January 18, 2024: Leaders of India’s Telangana state government pledged further backing for national battery giant Amara Raja’s ‘giga corridor’ investment plans, in talks held on January 3.

Amara Raja broke ground in May 2023 for its 16GWh lithium battery cells factory and research complex in Telangana.

The lead and lithium battery manufacturer — renamed Amara Raja Energy & Mobility last September — said the project would feature advanced laboratories and testing infrastructure for material research, prototyping, product life cycle analysis and proof of concept demonstration.

Amara Raja chairman and MD Jayadev Galla (pictured) said in the January 3 talks with Telangana leaders that the state has the potential to become “a major force in the growing EV and new energy sector”.

Galla thanked ministers for the government’s support for the giga corridor project as part of an expansion of Amara Raja’s operations in India.

Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy indicated the state was ready to step up support for attracting increased investment for the project. He said promoting clean energy and battery storage technologies was a priority for the state.

Telangana has already agreed a memorandum of understanding with Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies (ARACT), a wholly owned subsidiary of the battery group, which has been working on Li ion cell chemistries specifically suited for Indian subcontinent conditions.