Munoth Industries Limited (MIL) has announced the pre-production of Lithium-Ion cells for the consumer electronics segment at its soon to be inaugurated Tirupati unit.
“We will start pre-production from September 16. Commercial production and formal inauguration of the facility will take place in mid-October,” Vice Chairman Jaswant Munoth said.
The trial run will be inaugurated on Friday by the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajiv Chandrasekhar.
The new facility involves an investment of ₹799 crore in three phases. In the first phase, it will produce cells for consumer electronics such as mobile phones, hearing and wearable devices, followed by batteries for energy storage systems and two- and three-wheeled electric vehicles.
“This is the first lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility developed and operated by an Indian firm. In the first phase, we will invest ₹165 crore to produce 20,000 cells of 10Ah capacity per day and employ around 250 people.
According to him, MIL has tied up with China-based Tianjin Lishen, BPI and Amprius for the technology and the final product will be supplied to boAt, Amazon Basics, Xiaomi and Ambrane.
Mr Munoth said that India currently imports ₹15,000-20,000 crore of lithium-ion cells from China, South Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong. The new facility will meet 60% of India’s requirement.
In the next two phases, MIL Energy will manufacture cells for the storage system and EV segment. Civil works will start from March 23 and September 23 respectively.
“After the completion of the third phase, MIL will be a 1.25 GWh firm employing around 800 people. We plan to enter the capital market by the middle of 2024. In addition, we will also focus on R&D to supply technology to other firms to make cells,” said Mr. Munoth.
Responding to a question, he said it would take at least four to five years to achieve breakeven. MIL expects to register a sales turnover of ₹450 crore in the first year.