What brings you to The Battery Show India, and what role does a platform like this play in bringing the battery and EV ecosystem together?
This is a great initiative to bring the whole ecosystem together. I think the time has come for everything to come together beautifully, so that the Indian battery manufacturing and energy ecosystem can become a global force to reckon with.
We are very excited to participate because we represent the chemical side of the battery. All battery manufacturing starts with wet chemistry, which is very challenging and tricky, and involves a lot of niche, specialised materials. We manufacture ready-to-coat slurries for cathodes and anodes, which is one of the first steps in battery manufacturing. As the ecosystem grows, we hope to play a very critical role in it. A place like this, where the entire industry comes together, is very important to get the ball rolling for the whole ecosystem.
How will local cell production change pricing, quality and supply security for the industry?
That is exactly where we come into play. Today, in the name of manufacturing, a lot of companies are simply assembling battery packs, as you rightly pointed out in your question.
By enabling the entire chemical ecosystem to be made in India, the very first step of battery manufacturing is also carried out indigenously, using locally sourced raw materials, and the basic electrode chemistry becomes localised. That will make supply chains extremely robust and enable players to scale up to the gigafactory levels they are talking about.
In terms of cost, local is always better. Today, Indian companies like ours, and many others in the ecosystem, are well placed to be very cost-competitive through technological innovations in their niche areas.
Can India become an export hub for EV batteries and components in the future, and what would it take to compete with established players in East Asia?
Absolutely. The prospects are very bright. However, to fast-track this, the entire ecosystem needs to come together as a stronger force. The time between testing, R&D and actual commercialisation needs to be reduced significantly, whether through government support or by the industry finding better and faster ways of working. That means learning very quickly, failing fast and optimising rapidly for better performance.
Once that happens, the cycle between invention and implementation at a globally viable commercial scale will shorten. If you look at the industries our group is active in, such as paints, pharma and cosmetics, India is seen as a force to reckon with. Global companies are coming to India to partner with Indian companies as equal technology partners, and not merely as low-cost manufacturers. There is no reason this should not extend to the battery space, and I believe it will happen in due course.
