Market demand, experience in building facility to decide Amara Raja gigafactory expansion: Jayadev Galla

The Amara Raja Group remains committed to implementing its ₹9,500 crore, 16 GWh Gigafactory project in Divitipally, near Hyderabad, but take a decision on expansion depending on market demand and the level of comfort it experienced building the facility.

As per the MOU with the State government, for the 262 acres land parcel received for the project, it is required to invest ₹9,500 crore, generate 4,000 jobs and create a capacity of 16 gigawatt- hour.

“That, we’re definitely going to do. Whether we go beyond will depend on several factors. One is market demand and second, how comfortable have we been in building the first 16 GWh in this State? Have we received everything we are supposed to receive? So if we’re getting whatever we’re supposed to get, we will continue to expand here. If we don’t, then based on the circumstances, we’ll have to negotiate or or look elsewhere,” co-founder and Chairman of Amara Raja Jayadev Galla said on Wednesday.

“Most of the things are being done. To their credit, they’re fulfilling most of the things. There are a few other things pending. I wouldn’t want to mention right now. We are working with them closely and confident that we’ll get it… don’t foresee any problems,” he said about Telangana government in a media interaction in Divitipally after Chief Minister A.Revanth Reddy inaugurated a Customer Qualification Plant (CQP) at the upcoming Giga Corridor.

Besides the 262 acres, the Group has been expanding through private land acquisition in Divitipally for the ambitious commercial-scale lithium-ion cell manufacturing project.

Mr.Galla, who along with Vikramadithya Gourineni spoke about the project, said while the electric vehicle (EV) industry globally looked promising because of geopolitical issues there have been times where it seen some pushback, especially in countries lacking natural resources or capability to manufacture. These aspects will determine how fast the market can progress, be it in India or the U.S. or Europe. Though there are plans to scale up to 32 GWh, the decision will be based on how much is the real demand.

Stating Amara Raja is confident of EV growth in India, he said “at the same time, we’ve not given up our dedication and commitment to [batteries] for internal combustion engine vehicles. It is going to be around for a long time… will continue to be relevant, grow. We are fully committed to both EV as well as IC engines.”