Altmin and ARCI partner to begin cathode material production in India

On August 17th, India made an advancement in the production of Cathode Active Materials (CAM) through a collaboration between the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) under the Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, and Altmin, a private company under Public – Private Partnership method. This partnership aims to enhance self-reliance and reduce dependence on Cathode materials by producing Lithium Ferrous Phosphate (LFP), a crucial element of CAMs used in advanced Lithium-Ion cells for Electric Vehicles (EVs) and other industries.

Situated at the ARCI campus in Balapur, Hyderabad, the pilot plant spans over 5000 square feet and will initially produce 100 kilograms of LFP per day. Altmin, the private partner in this endeavour, projects a turnover of $80 million within the first year of Giga-Watt production.

Given the growing Electric Vehicle sector, the demand for CAMs is substantial. India’s requirement for LFP is projected to reach 25 gigawatts by 2025 and over 150 gigawatts by 2030. Worldwide, the demand for CAMs is expected to exceed 9 tera-watts by 2030. ARCI has aligned with Altmin as a technology collaborator, supporting the company’s research and development efforts along with international stakeholders. Altmin holds exclusive international licensing rights for the CAM produced in partnership with ARCI, while domestic licensing is non-exclusive. The company said that it has garnered interest from major battery manufacturers for both Indian and global deployment.

Regarding the acquisition of Lithium, a critical mineral for CAM production, Altmin has secured a partnership with YLB, Bolivia, ensuring a consistent supply of battery-grade lithium carbonate for current and future production needs. Altmin’s domestically developed cost-effective technology aims to stabilize the supply chain and create an environmentally sustainable production model with minimal emissions. The company’s establishment is in line with the Indian government’s efforts to localize Li-Ion cell and battery manufacturing through the ACC-PLI scheme, operating as a public-private partnership alongside ARCI.

Speaking on the launch of the pilot plant, Mr Mourya Sunkavalli, Founder & CEO, Altmin said, “Initially, the battery industry was focused on NMC (Nickel- Manganese-Cobalt Oxide) batteries, but with Tesla’s announcement in 2021, the world is shifting towards LFP for ESS & mobility.  At Altmin, we have put in years of R&D, studied the market & the supply chain carefully and came up with a technology that is fool-proof, economical and sustainable through technology partners and collaborations both in India and abroad. Our Cathode Materials have done phenomenally well at the lab level and are bolstered by thorough research. I’m very confident that we will be India’s leader in cathode materials and Tier 1 supplier to global OEMs while creating a secure supply chain in India and supporting the local clean energy transition domestically. Additionally, we want to achieve a circular economy in this space; recycling will soon become the order of the day. Our product is built to achieve this”.

Mr Tata Narsinga Rao, Director, ARCI said, “Altmin is an emerging hi-tech manufacturing company with a clear vision of addressing supply challenges of battery material for the future battery companies across the globe. ARCI has developed, along with Altmin, a novel process to make one of the key cathode materials (Lithium iron phosphate), which is a safe and low-cost material suitable for tropical conditions. Identifying Altmin as a potential partner for commercializing the technology, ARCI has entered into agreements with Altmin for technology transfer and establishing a pilot facility at the incubator facility at ARCI.”

Altmin’s expansion plans include scaling up production to achieve a 3 Giga-Watt capacity by 2025 and establishing production facilities in different parts of India. The company aims for a multi-Giga-Watt hour-scale LFP production and intends to support major Indian cell OEMs with customized materials, as per an official statement.

Also Read: Components of a Lithium-ion cell – part 1| Cathode