<article><p class="lead">Indian chemical manufacturer Epsilon Advanced Materials (EAMPL) and Japanese research firm KRI are planning a 100GWh battery materials testing facility in India, double India's target of 50GWh of lithium-ion cell and battery manufacturing capacity.</p><p>EAMPL, a subsidiary of coal-tar derivatives company Epsilon Carbon, will set up the facility for basic and advanced cell testing with an investment of 3bn rupees ($36.4mn), managing director Vikram Handa told <i>Argus </i>on 2 June following the signing of an initial agreement with KRI in late May. The timeline for the establishment of the facility is unknown.</p><p>The facility will be located in Hyderabad, Bengaluru or Chennai in southern India, Handa said. It will provide testing services for anodes, cathodes, electrolytes and electrode formulates. The facility will test battery materials produced by Epsilon as well as other domestic and global firms.</p><p>The technology centre will leverage on KRI's technical know-how in lithium ion batteries and new energy segments, Handa said, adding that the Japanese firm has capabilities to provide accurate and reliable results and certification. KRI is a subsidiary of Japanese utility Osaka Gas.</p><p>The Indian government approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in 2021 for achieving <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2315569">50GWh of lithium-ion cell and battery manufacturing capacity</a>, and selected four companies in March 2022 to set up the capacity. OEMPL and HGMCL were approved to establish 20GW each of battery capacity, while Reliance New Energy Solar and Rajesh Exports were chosen to build 5GW each, all within two years.</p><p>EAMPL's advanced technology centre will be the "backbone" for the manufacturing battery value chain in India, to create an electric vehicle (EV) hub in the country, Handa said. The facility can accelerate customers' process of getting international testing certifications and reduce the timeframe for product development, he added.</p><p>EAMPL had in 2021 agreed to supply Indian automotive electrical component manufacturer Lucas TVS with <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2250252">domestically produced anode materials</a> for a 10GW lithium-ion gigafactory in Thervoy Kandigai in Tamil Nadu state. The company signed an initial agreement with the Karnataka state government in November last year to invest Rs90bn to establish battery material manufacturing plants over a span of 10 years. </p><p>EAMPL plans to increase production of graphite anodes for lithium-ion batteries to <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2187712">35,000 t/yr by 2025</a>, a move that would strengthen the security of supply for upcoming lithium-ion battery manufacturing facilities in India, as well as enabling Epsilon to ramp up exports.</p><p class="bylines">By Pranav Joshi</p></article>
