Amara Raja to supply Lithium-ion cells to Ather Energy

Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies Private Limited (ARACT), a subsidiary of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Limited (ARE&M), has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ather Energy. The agreement will involve the development and supply of NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) and LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) lithium-ion cells for two-wheeler battery packs, produced locally at ARACT’s upcoming Gigafactory in Divitipally, Telangana.

Amara Raja has recently entered into an agreement with Gotion-InoBat-Batteries (GIB) to localize global LFP technology for lithium-ion cells tailored to Indian conditions. Additionally, the company has a collaboration with Jiangsu Highstar Battery Manufacturing Co. for NMC technology.

The shift towards electric vehicles (EVs), particularly in the two-wheeler segment, is expected to increase EV 2W penetration to 40% by 2030 in India. Both Amara Raja and Ather Energy have plans to capitalize on this market potential. Ather Energy operates two manufacturing facilities in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, one for battery production and one for vehicle assembly, with plans for another plant in Maharashtra.

Amara Raja is investing INR 9,500 crores to establish a 16Gwh capacity gigafactory in Telangana and is setting up a research and innovation center, ‘ePositive Energy Labs,’ in Hyderabad.

Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO at Ather Energy, said, “Our focus has always been on designing and building products from scratch in India, with most of our components, aside from cells, sourced domestically. Now, we’re taking a significant step forward by promoting
homegrown cell technology. This will help us optimize costs and enable us to source lithiumion cells tailored to Ather’s specific requirements, further enhancing our ability to innovate and scale efficiently. Our aim is to help the domestic industry grow significantly to support India’s energy demand now and in the coming future.”

Vikramaditya Gourineni, Executive Director, Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd said, “We immensely respect Ather’s contribution to electrify mobility in India and their unique approach to overall eco-system development for sustainable personal mobility solutions. At
Amara Raja, we have significantly progressed in our efforts to building world-class facilities to manufacture cell and battery packs customised for Indian conditions. Our recent collaboration with Gotion-InoBat will accelerate our efforts towards the same. We are proud to partner with Ather and together we will focus on building market relevant solutions in India’s journey towards indigenisation of Electric Vehicle technologies.”

Also read: Amara Raja advances its lithium-ion cell manufacturing plans with strategic partnerships