Tata Chemicals Exploring New Opportunities In The Lithium-Ion Battery Business

The Government of India has shifted its focus towards electric vehicles which has already prompted quite a few automakers to ramp-up development of EVs. However, the recent budget announcement to incentivise EVs has also interested other companies to explore new business opportunities. According to the latest news reports, Tata Chemicals is planning to come-up with a new lithium-ion battery plant in Dhalora Special Investment Region (DSIR) in Gujarat and will be investing Rs. 4000 crore for the purpose.

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According to Jaiprakash Shivhare, Managing Director- Dholera Industrial City Development Limited (DICDL), Tata Chemicals has acquired 126 acres of land in Gujarat in the first phase with an investment of Rs. 1000 crore. However the company has termed the reports of any investment as speculative and said that it is exploring the sector. We reached out to the company for a statement and received a reply via mail which said, "While this is a sector that we are exploring very actively - as a principle we will not comment on speculative news reports - we would provide an update once we have something to share and not at the moment,"

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In the latest budget session, the government had proposed several benefits to the EV segment in a bid to promote sales. The GST rates on EVs have been reduced form 12 per cent to 5 per cent along with giving income tax deduction of Rs. 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles. The government also proposed custom duty exemption on import of specific components. The new proposals is in addition to Rs. 10,000 crore allocated for EVs under the FAME II scheme and includes solar storage batteries and charging infrastructure among others.