Ola Electric plans to set up 50 GWh battery manufacturing plant in India
Softbank Group-backed Ola Electric has announced that it plans to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in India with a capacity of up to 50 gigawatt-hours (GWh) as part of its larger electrification push.
Ola will need 40 GWh of battery capacity to meet its annual target to produce 10 million electric scooters and the remainder will be for electric cars, which it plans to manufacture in the future, said the person aware of the plans.
The preliminary plan is to set up 1 GWh of battery capacity by 2023 and expand it to 20 GWh over the next three-four years, said another source aware of the plans, adding that this alone will need an investment of up to $1 billion.
Ola, who currently imports battery cells from South Korea, also plans to capitalize in companies with advanced cell and battery technology and will set up a battery research and development facility in India, the sources said.
India wants companies to build clean fuel vehicles and batteries locally to cut the country's oil import bill and reduce pollution. The government plans to give incentives of up to $6 billion for this, and Ola is among those that have bid for them.
The battery plans come even as the company is yet to ramp up scooter production to a substantial level. Ola at present produces about 1,000 scooters a day, its CEO said on Twitter and has a target of two million in the first phase.
