Saar: Last month, Raasi Group signed a MoU with government-run CSIR-CECRI to put the indigenously developed technology for lithium-ion batteries into mass production.

A Bengaluru-based company has gone ahead and added lithium-ion batteries on the list of locally-produced items. The company is called Raasi Group. Its subsidiary – Raasi Solar Pvt. Ltd. – has started the production of lithium-ion batteries in a facility in Tamil Nadu. The technology used to make the said batteries is a result of the hard work of engineers at CSIR – CECRI (Central Scientific Industrial Research – Central Electro Chemical Research Institute). Last month, the government-run body signed a MoU with Raasi Group for the transfer of technology of India’s first indigenously engineered lithium-ion cells.

Lithium-ion batteries have a wide range of applications including mobile phones and electric vehicles. In comparison to Lead Acid batteries, which are less than a third of the price of lithium-ion ones, normally have a life of about six months. While lithium-ion technology is comparatively expensive, batteries made using it can last up to eight years. It is safe to say that more production plants for lithium-ion batteries in India will surely help bring the costs of pure-electric vehicles down. Presently, batteries make up about 30 per cent of the cost of an electric vehicle (EV).

Raasi Group has been in the renewable energy sector for a long time. The plant that has gone live in Tamil Nadu will be making rechargeable batteries to power electric vehicles as well as for storage of solar energy. The company is also planning to set up a 1GW (giga-watt) solar energy plant, a cell manufacturing plant and a lithium-ion battery recycling plant near Hosur – a city that’s just 35km away from Bengaluru but comes under the jurisdiction of Tamil Nadu.

Up until now, India has been importing the batteries required for electric vehicles from countries like Germany, USA and Korea. However, this development should act as a spark to ignite the fire India needs to make most of the components required in manufacturing an EV. Once done, locally produced EVs will be a lot more affordable than they are now.

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It isn’t just CSIR-CECRI that is willing to transfer its own technology of lithium-ion batteries. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has its own tech ready and is currently inviting applications from companies who are interested in the mass-production of EV batteries.