Page 142 - CW E-Magazine (19-12-2023)

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BATTERY MATERIALS
Himadri Speciality Chemicals plans lithium iron

phosphate facility in Odisha

Himadri Speciality Chemicals will debt-free by repaying Rs. 230-crore of key component accounting for 15 per-
invest Rs. 4,800-crore over the next debt by March. cent of the EV battery cost. Mr. Anurag
5-6 years in setting up a plant that will Choudhary, CMD and CEO of Himadri
produce 2-lakh tonnes of lithium iron At full capacity, the company ex- Speciality Chemical Ltd., said China
phosphate (also known as LFP or lithium pects to generate revenue of over Rs. currently dominates lithium cathode
ferrophosphate), a key material for 4,000-crore from the investment. It has manufacturing, accounting for 95 per-
making lithium ion batteries used in already tied up raw material supplies of cent of the market share, and most of
electric vehicles. This is the fi rst such lithium carbonate from Australia, South the western countries are looking at
plant in India. In the fi rst phase, it will America, and Africa and is confi dent India to diversify their sourcing under
invest Rs. 1,125-crore in the fi rst phase of enough supplies despite growing their ‘China Plus One’ policy.
for a 40,000 tonnes per annum plant in demand. At the optimum capacity of
Odisha. It intends to complete the pro- 40,000 tonnes, the company would require Subsequently, he said many car
ject in 27–36 months. The project will a carbonate raw material of 10,000 tonnes. manufacturers and existing battery
be executed by the step-down, wholly- makers are in the initial stage of putting
owned subsidiary, Himadri Future Till domestic battery manufacturing up plants for making batteries in India,
Material Technology. evolves, Himadri will export its entire though they have to depend entirely on
cathode material production and is in imports for battery materials. Though
Lithium iron phosphate is the key discussion to get approval from eight the government has announced per-
cathode material, accounting for 52 global battery makers. Cathode mate- formance-linked incentives for battery
percent of the cost of lithium batteries rial demand is expected to increase to makers, he said such sops are still
(LiB) used largely in electric vehicles. 9.4-million tonnes annually by 2030 to under active consideration for battery
The company intends to fund 70-80 meet the required global production of material manufacturers, which is a
percent of the investment through LiB cells. Himadri is also working on highly niche segment, and a positive
internal accruals, as it targets becoming technology to produce anodes, another outcome is expected soon.

Shree Cement plans to bid for lithium mining rights in J&K

Shree Cement, India’s second big- blocks in Jammu and Kashmir, (J&K) as the premium that it should quote in
gest cement company by market capi- where an estimated 5.9-mt of deposits its bid. The company is also seeking
talisation, plans to bid for lithium were found in February. Shree Cement expert advice on the quality and grades of
mining rights under a government plan will also bid for blocks in Chhattisgarh. lithium reserves in J&K. If it acquires
to secure critical minerals production a lithium block there it would team up
through auctions that are expected to According to the report, this will be with an Australian company for techni-
raise more than $5-bn. According to Shree Cement’s fi rst venture into min- cal assistance on setting up a refi nery,
a Reuters report, the company would ing and it has contacted Australia-based which would cost around $600-700
apply for the rights to lithium mining mining experts to work out details such million.

BASF breaks ground for new R&D facility in Chennai

BASF India has broken ground try, dedicated to supporting Original The company has also signed a new
at its new R&D facility at its site in Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in contract that will supply much of the
Chennai. This facility is the fi rst of its kind the region with cutting-edge techno- Chennai production site with renewa-
in the Indian automotive catalysts indus- logies aligned with Indian regulations. ble solar energy in the coming years.

142 Chemical Weekly December 19, 2023

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