The Daily Brief India plugs into China’s batteries
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Sep 26, 2025 Explore India's strategic partnership with Chinese battery maker CALB to boost EV adoption and the intricate plan for local manufacturing. Discover the ambitious targets set by Ashok Leyland and how this collaboration could reshape the Indian battery landscape. Meanwhile, delve into the shocking financial saga of Seacoast, where fabricated revenues were unveiled by SEBI's investigation, revealing a web of deceit in the stock market. Learn valuable lessons about investor diligence and the importance of verifying financial claims.
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Huge Capacity Gap With China
- India currently imports nearly all lithium-ion cells and around 60-65% of battery pack components from China.
- Domestic commissioned cell capacity (6.7 GWh in 2023) is tiny versus China's thousands of GWh.
Partner To Scale Faster
- Partnering with Chinese firms can shortcut years of trial-and-error and unlock supply chains for cathodes, anodes and separators.
- Accept calculated geopolitical and legal risks to achieve scale needed for cost-competitive battery production.
Potential Cost Advantage For India
- With cheap labour, India could become a lowest-cost cell manufacturing location if it masters the processes.
- BloombergNEF projects India's potential cost advantage over China per kWh given successful localisation.