Govt committed to EV infrastructure, local manufacturing: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday laid the foundation stone for four manufacturing units at the Electronics Manufacturing Cluster in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana.

As part of the ceremony, foundation stones were laid for upcoming Giga Factory-1 of Amara Raja company, critical minerals refining and battery recycling unit of Lohum company, cell casing manufacturing unit of Scell Energy, and first LFP-CAM Giga Factory of Altmin, an official release said.

Addressing the gathering, Vaishnaw said electric mobility remains a focus area for the government. The government is committed to developing the right infrastructure and ecosystem for the promotion and adoption of EVs.

We welcome Indian innovation and manufacturing initiatives and look forward to the success of this endeavor, the release quoted Vaishnaw as saying.

As part of its objective to strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India and give boost to EV manufacturing and supply chain, the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) notified Modified Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC 2.0) Scheme.

Under the scheme, it had accorded approval for establishment of Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) project over an area of 377.65 acres at Divtipally village, it said.

Earlier in the day, the Union Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has placed a strong emphasis on electronics manufacturing, with the Centre supporting three electronics manufacturing clusters in Telangana.

Ahead of visiting the cluster at Divitipalli, Vaishnaw said, "This facility will primarily focus on battery packs, cell manufacturing and lithium batteries, which are crucial for the rapidly growing electric vehicle industry in our country".

The Centre in collaboration with the state government is supporting the project, with the Centre providing funds for infrastructure, he added.

Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies (ARACT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Amara Raja Energy and Mobility (ARE&M), had signed an MoU with the Telangana government in 2022 to set up Amara Raja Giga Corridor where the company will set up Lithium Cell and Battery Pack Manufacturing facilities with capacities of up to 16 GWh and 5GWh respectively for Indian and International markets.

Once operational, the project is expected to create direct employment for 4,500 people and a similar number of indirect jobs in the state, a release from ARE&M said.

ARE&M, Chairman & Managing Director, Jayadev Galla said his company is looking to be amongst the first companies in India to present an indigenously manufactured Lithium-Ion cell to the nation.

Telangana Minister for IT and Industries D Sridhar Babu, Mahabubnagar MP D K Aruna, and senior officials from the state government were also present.