Hyderabad, May 6 (IANS): Amara Raja Batteries Limited, one of India's leading industrial and automotive battery majors, on Saturday commenced work on lithium ion battery manufacturing Giga plant in Telangana with planned investment of Rs 9,500 crore over next 10 years.

Minister for industries and commerce K.T. Rama Rao laid the foundation stone for Telangana's first Giga factory at Divitipally in Mahabubnagar district along with Dr. Ramachandra N. Galla, founder, Amara Raja Group, and Jayadev Galla, Chairman & Managing Director, Amara Raja Batteries Limited (ARBL).

The minister called it a big step forward in electrifying Telangana's ambitions to be a hub for electric vehicles and sustainable mobility. He said this is the largest investment in India in this sector.

In December 2022, the Telangana government had 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 16 Gigawatt hours (GWh) and up to 5 GWh respectively.

At the time of signing of MoU, the company had announced that it would invest Rs 9,500 crore in a phased manner during the next 10 years.

In the first phase, the company would invest between Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore. The funds would be arranged through internal sources of the company. The first phase will be completed within 2-3 years.

The facility also aims to create direct employment for about 4,500 people and a similar number of indirect jobs. This is expected to 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.

"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," said Ramachandra N. Galla.

"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," added Vikramadithya Gourineni, Executive Director, ARBL.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the plant was coming up with zero liquid discharge. He said some people were spreading rumours that the plant would cause pollution in the area. He offered to make transport arrangements for all those who have doubts to visit the location of the plant and satisfy themselves.