Amara Raja breaks ground for gigafactory in Telangana

Hyderabad: Amara Raja Batteries Limited (ARBL), one of India’s leading industrial and automotive battery majors, on held a grand groundbreaking ceremony for Telangana’s first gigafactory in Mahbubnagar district. The event was graced by KT Rama Rao, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development; Industries and Commerce and Information Technology, Electronics, and Communications, Government of Telangana, Dr Ramachandra N Galla, Founder, Amara Raja Group, and Jayadev Galla, Chairman & Managing Director, ARBL, in the presence of other dignitaries from the government and industry.

Telangana government had recently entered into an MOU with Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (ARACT) a wholly owned subsidiary of ARBL, which has been working on Li-ion cell chemistries specifically suited for Indian subcontinent conditions and already supplies lithium battery packs and chargers to some 2 and 3-wheeler OEMs.

The ground-breaking ceremony officially marked the beginning of ‘Amara Raja Giga Corridor’ that aims to produce Lithium Cell and Battery Packs with an ultimate capacity of up to 16GWh and up to 5 GWh respectively. The facility also aims to create direct employment for about 4,500 people and a similar number of indirect jobs that will make significant contributions to the socio-economic development in the region.

The initial facilities would also include a first-of-its-kind advanced energy research and innovation center, dubbed the Amara Raja E +Ve Energy Labs. This facility will be equipped with advanced laboratories and testing infrastructure for material research, prototyping, product life cycle analysis, and Proof of Concept demonstration. This will cater to the development needs of the Amara Raja as well as provide a range of facilities open to other players in the energy and mobility ecosystem.

On the occasion, Dr. Ramachandra N Galla, Founder, Amara Raja Group said “Amara Raja’s core purpose has always been to build institutions that provide better opportunities to more and more people and this beginning today will transform this region in the years to come.”

“We expect this foray to be a significant needle-mover in India's energy transition. We have always been at the forefront of introducing new technologies and take immense pride in being able to build out world-class manufacturing units,” said Vikramadithya Gourineni, Executive Director, ARBL.

Jayadev Galla, Chairman & Managing Director, ARBL, expressed his enthusiasm at the ground-breaking ceremony (Bhoomi Pooja) of the company's and State’s first Lithium Cell and Battery Pack Manufacturing unit. "The Bhoomi pooja marks a significant milestone in our journey and our strategic step is not just limited to setting up of the Giga Corridor but to provide non-migratory jobs to the local youth. We are grateful to the Telangana Government for its tremendous support in this endeavor.”

Congratulating the company on the groundbreaking ceremony, K T Rama Rao, said, "Electric mobility remains a focus area for the Telangana government and we are committed to developing the right infrastructure and ecosystem for the promotion and adoption of EVs. Telangana has been a frontrunner in adopting sustainability, and it is a proud moment for the state to celebrate the ground-breaking ceremony of Amara Raja Batteries' first Lithium Cell and Battery Pack Manufacturing facility.” Telangana aspires to become number #1 in Electric mobility, and we are committed to developing the right infrastructure and ecosystem for the promotion and adoption of EVs and battery technologies. We created India's first dedicated energy storage park at Divitipalli. It is a proud moment for the State to celebrate the ground-breaking ceremony of Amara Raja Batteries' first Lithium Cell and Battery Pack Manufacturing facility in the New Energy park.

Amara Raja Batteries Limited is an Energy and Mobility enterprise and one of the largest manufacturers of energy storage products for both industrial and automotive applications in the Indian battery industry. In India, Amara Raja is the preferred supplier to major telecom service providers, Telecom equipment manufacturers, the UPS sector (OEM & Replacement), Indian Railways, and to the Power, Oil & Gas, among other industry segments. Amara Raja’s industrial battery brands comprise PowerStack, AmaronVolt and Quanta. The Company is a leading manufacturer of automotive batteries under the brands Amaron and Powerzone, which are distributed through a large Pan- India sales & service retail network.

The company supplies automotive batteries under OE relationships to Ashok Leyland, Ford India, Honda, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, and Tata Motors. The Company’s Industrial and Automotive Batteries are exported to countries in the Indian Ocean Rim.