A pilot plant for manufacturing cathode active material Lithium Ferrous Phosphate (LFP), a raw material for Lithium-Ion cells that in turn are crucial for electric vehicles and certain industrial applications, will open in Hyderabad on Friday.
Set up on a public private partnership mode, the 10 megawatt plant will be the forerunner to a 3 GW facility that Hyderabad-based Altmin, the private entity in the PPP, intends to set up near the city with $35 million within two years.
The International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an institution under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, is the public partner and pilot plant is located on its campus in Balapur here. The facility is the first step towards India achieving self-reliance and reducing global dependence on Cathode materials.
The licensing of the CAM produced through the Altmin-ARCI partnership lies exclusively with Altmin internationally while at the domestic front, Altmin has a non-exclusive arrangement. Altmin has already secured interest from major battery players for product deployment in India and globally.
The company has also tied up for lithium procurement, a key mineral required for production of CAM, with Bolivian firm YLB, for a consistent and secure supply of battery grade lithium carbonate necessary for the planned production and future scale up, Altmin founders Anjani Sri Mourya Sunkavalli and Kiriti Varma said during a media interaction here on Thursday.
On the 3GW plant, Mr. Sunkavalli said the company was set to be allotted 20 acres by the State government in Divitipally, near Hyderabad, for the facility. The plant would require up to 24 months to be commissioned, he said, adding the plan was to eventually scale up the facility to 10 GW by 2030. To queries, he said the bootstrapped company was also in discussion with prospective investors to raise funds.