Exide’s Bengaluru Battery Plant to Hit 12 GWh After Rs 3,000 Crore Push

Exide Industries’ lithium-ion cell plant in Bengaluru is headed toward 12 GWh of total capacity, after MD and CEO Avik Roy confirmed a near-Rs 3,000 crore investment in the facility’s second phase following the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.

The first phase of the plant already carries 6 GWh of capacity and has pulled in more than Rs 6,000 crore in investment to date, with Rs 1,400 crore more being added this fiscal year. Roy said the plant should start generating revenue from the third quarter of the current fiscal.

Exide plans to use around 3 GWh of the first phase’s output this year. Early production will replace lithium iron phosphate cells the company currently imports for its Gujarat battery pack plant, which supplies the three-wheeler segment, while qualification for passenger vehicle battery cells is already underway.

‘By the end of the fiscal, we also expect supplies for certain two-wheeler battery pack applications and NMC cells for OEMs, subject to homologation and approval,’ Roy said, describing the lithium-ion venture as a strategic transformation for the company. Exide will also keep investing over Rs 400 crore this fiscal in its existing lead-acid battery business.

The company is aiming for Rs 20,000 crore in revenue by FY28, up from Rs 17,200 crore currently, at a time when India’s lithium-ion cell demand — about 20 GWh today and projected to reach 130 GWh by 2030 — is met almost entirely through imports.