With an expenditure of 76.1 billion rupees ($920 million), India’s Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. seeks to construct what it claims would be the largest electric car hub in the world and localise the supply chain for more environmentally friendly transportation.
According to a statement released by Ola on Friday, the hub, which covers 2,000 acres (809 hectares) in Tamil Nadu, would be utilised to produce electric cars, two-wheelers, and battery cells in addition to housing vendor and supplier parks. Later this year, the Indian firm claimed, it will start mass producing cells at the centre.
While localising essential components of the EV supply chain, such batteries, would lower the cost of EVs, India only has a small portion of the raw materials required to meet the country’s domestic demand for lithium-ion batteries, which is expected to increase 100-fold by 2030. Reliance Industries Ltd., owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and bullion refiner Rajesh Exports Ltd. would also receive incentives as part of a $2.3 billion government scheme to assist the development of innovative battery cells, in addition to Ola.
Creating a solid supply chain might aid Ola in resolving production-related problems with electric vehicles. 1,441 electric scooters were recalled by the Bengaluru-based business after one of the vehicles in the batch caught fire. Due to the fact that India depends significantly on imported parts, whose supply was hampered by a global chip shortage, Ola scooter deliveries were originally delayed.
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According to a statement from the business, Ola revealed its first lithium-ion cell in 2017 after investing $500 million in a battery innovation lab in Bangalore. According to the company, Ola will concentrate on creating a local supply chain over the next ten years for materials and components including motors, rare-earth magnets, semiconductors, lithium processing, and the fabrication of electrodes from minerals like graphite and nickel.