India does a Tesla; Trickles space tech into vehicle batteries

Creative by Mousumi Paul

Ashish Kulshrestha | The Clear Picture

According to popular stories, technocrat Elon Musk’s first Tesla car could have failed to take off even before production due to the lack of economics in the production of lithium ion batteries, which is the heart of an electric vehicle. To solve this, Musk used technologies and resources from his other venture SpaceX to bring down the cost of the batteries and enhance its shelf life.

India is looking to do a Tesla in the same space.

As the country gears up to begin its electric vehicle journey, it aims to replicate the same model by transferring technologies from its national space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) to various organisations in the public and private sectors.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has selected ten companies for transfer of its Lithium-ion cell technology. The selected firms include Amara Raja Batteries Limited, Chittoor,Bharat Electronics Limited, Pune, Murugappa Group controlled-Carborundum Universal Limited, Kochi, Exicom Tele-Systems Limited, Gurgaon, GOCL Corporation Limited, Hyderabad; among others.

In 2018, the Central ElectroChemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu under Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) signed a Memorandum of Agreement with RAASI Solar Power Pvt Ltd for transfer of technology for India’s first Lithium Ion (Li-ion) Battery project. The indigenously developed technology of Lithium-ion cells will enable cost reduction, coupled with appropriate supply chain and manufacturing technology for mass production. This transfer of technology will contribute to the development of reliable lithium ion batteries with long shelf life and also contribute to reducing greenhouse gases in the environment.

These efforts are finally bearing fruit with several companies making big investments in the research and manufacturing of lithium ion batteries. Amara Raja Batteries, the country's second-largest automotive battery maker earlier this year opened the country's maiden technology hub to develop lithium-ion cells, at its Tirupati facility in Andhra Pradesh. While Carborundum Universal Limited has increased focus on lithium ion batteries, Noida-based EV startup Lohum has announced plans to invest Rs 250 crores in the expansion of production capacity of lithium ion batteries.

India is one of the largest importers of Lithium Ion batteries and currently imports from China, Japan and South Korea among other countries. In 2017, it imported nearly $150 Million worth Li-Ion batteries.

To end this reliance on import of finished goods, India plans to buy Lithium from Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, countries with one of the largest sources of lithium, to ensure supplies that could potentially last decades and make India self-reliant. New Delhi has started a massive effort to make India a world leader in Lithium batteries.

A company named Khanij Bidesh India Limited was incorporated by three state-owned companies NALCO, Hindustan Copper and Mineral Exploration Limited to acquire strategic mineral assets like Lithium and Cobalt in the three geographies. In parallel, India is also looking for its own source of lithium and has started explorations across the country and is witnessing encouraging initial results. The Government earlier in February 2021 said that preliminary surveys on surface and limited subsurface by Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit of Department of Atomic Energy have shown presence of Lithium resources of 1,600 tonnes (inferred category) in the pegmatites of Marlagalla – Allapatna area, Mandya district, Karnataka.