In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister emphasized the critical role played by energy storage systems, primarily batteries, in powering electric vehicles. He underlined the significance of developing cost-effective storage technologies to boost market adoption of EVs and stressed the importance of promoting battery recycling technologies to ensure a sustainable approach in managing battery waste.

Acknowledging the government’s commitment to indigenous research and development in battery technology, Singh said that the department of science & technology (DST) have supported approximately thirty- two R&D-related projects in the area of battery storage, which resulted in several publications and lab level prototypes.

Contributions have been made by prestigious institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, and Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, where researchers successfully developed a Sodium (Na) ion battery pack, a battery management system, a charger, and a cell balancing system for e-bicycles. Additionally, the government is providing support to two battery recycling technology research projects.

While addressing the challenges faced in battery storage research, the minister highlighted the issue of sourcing raw materials. He noted that despite the substantial demand for Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in India, the country still heavily relies on imports due to the lack of domestic Li-ion battery manufacturing. Additionally, essential raw materials like lithium and cobalt are scarce and must be imported, further accentuating the need to develop a robust supply chain for electrode materials and components.

To address the scarcity of critical raw materials and promote sustainable battery recycling practices, the Central Electro Chemical Research Institute, (CECRI), a lab under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has established a small scale (1000 cells per day) Lithium- ion cell manufacturing line at its Chennai unit.

CSIR also initiated a bulk chemical mission project to develop a technology that dismantles 100kg spent lithium ion battery and can extract all metals from the electrode material and demonstrate at 1kg product level.

Updated: 02 Aug 2023, 06:19 PM IST