Panasonic projected to enter the Indian market with a battery manufacturing plant
Monday, 17 July 2023, 14:38 IST
Panasonic, a Japanese conglomerate, intends to open a battery manufacturing plant in India under the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for ACC battery storage. A high-level delegation from the Japanese company held discussions with senior functionaries of the government in the first week of this month, said top officials of the firm. Niti Aayog CEO and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant and Heavy Industries secretary Kamran Rizvi met Kazuo Tadanobu, global president and CEO of Panasonic Energy with other Japanese team members of Panasonic. Manish Sharma, Panasonic Life Solutions Chairman, India, was also present at the meeting.
The firm has informed the Indian government of its plans to consider the country for a battery manufacturing operation. Panasonic India has declined to comment on the matter. However, after recent developments, it is expected that the Japanese company is now “coming close to making substantial investments” in India with the setting up of the battery manufacturing plant. Under the government’s Rs 18,100 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for ACC battery storage, Hyundai Global Motors, one of the four companies selected, recently pulled out of the scheme.
It is hoped that this offer given up by Hyundai Global Motors will now be taken up by Panasonic. However, there is no confirmation on the same and this needs to be ratified at the highest levels within the government, quoting its sources. Panasonic battery plant is hoping to supply batteries to major companies such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and the Volkswagen group. This comes as these companies are expanding in the electric fleet and could emerge as major consumers of Panasonic’s batteries.
Panasonic is one of the biggest suppliers of batteries to Tesla. “The government had also briefed the Panasonic team about the bullish business potential in India for automotive batteries and said that it should be ready to invest in India with or without Tesla’s investments.” Request for Proposal (RFP) released by the Ministry of Heavy Industries in October 2021 showed that 10 companies had originally submitted their bids under the ACC battery program for which but only four of them were selected in March 2022. The companies selected for PLI, excluding Hyundai Global Motors, are Reliance New Energy Solar, Ola Electric Mobility, and Rajesh Exports.
The firm has informed the Indian government of its plans to consider the country for a battery manufacturing operation. Panasonic India has declined to comment on the matter. However, after recent developments, it is expected that the Japanese company is now “coming close to making substantial investments” in India with the setting up of the battery manufacturing plant. Under the government’s Rs 18,100 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for ACC battery storage, Hyundai Global Motors, one of the four companies selected, recently pulled out of the scheme.
It is hoped that this offer given up by Hyundai Global Motors will now be taken up by Panasonic. However, there is no confirmation on the same and this needs to be ratified at the highest levels within the government, quoting its sources. Panasonic battery plant is hoping to supply batteries to major companies such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and the Volkswagen group. This comes as these companies are expanding in the electric fleet and could emerge as major consumers of Panasonic’s batteries.
Panasonic is one of the biggest suppliers of batteries to Tesla. “The government had also briefed the Panasonic team about the bullish business potential in India for automotive batteries and said that it should be ready to invest in India with or without Tesla’s investments.” Request for Proposal (RFP) released by the Ministry of Heavy Industries in October 2021 showed that 10 companies had originally submitted their bids under the ACC battery program for which but only four of them were selected in March 2022. The companies selected for PLI, excluding Hyundai Global Motors, are Reliance New Energy Solar, Ola Electric Mobility, and Rajesh Exports.
