Reliance Industries says battery manufacturing plans on track, progress within timelines

Reliance Industries announced on Monday that its plans for battery storage manufacturing were intact. This statement came in response to a Bloomberg News article stating that the conglomerate had halted ambitions to produce lithium-ion battery cells in India after failing to get Chinese technology.”Reliance Industries strongly and categorically affirms that there has been no change in our plans for creating a world-leading battery storage manufacturing ecosystem from Cell to containerised ESS (energy storage system) and that they are progressing well in line with our target timelines,” a spokesperson for the company stated.

Read Also: Gold, silver at lifetime highs in India: Factors driving bullion prices
Reports on Sunday suggested that the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate, which planned to begin producing cells this year, had been in talks with the Chinese company Xiamen Hithium Energy Storage Technology to license cell technology.According to the article, the negotiations came to a standstill when Xiamen withdrew from the proposed partnership in response to China’s restrictions on knowledge transfers abroad in important areas. Reliance then turned its attention back to constructing battery energy storage systems.

Last October, Beijing announced controls on exports of lithium battery components, requiring exporters to obtain permits, tightening China’s grip on technology critical for energy storage and electric vehicles.