Panasonic Energy, which is among Tesla’s largest supplier of batteries, is evaluating four states—Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka, some people cited above said.
LG Energy is set to do a field visit to a 100-acre plot of land in Manallur near Chennai in Tamil Nadu after the Pongal that concludes on Friday, one of the persons cited above said. “They want to start slow and then scale up slowly,” the person said. “Tamil Nadu’s advantage is that it has a robust auto ecosystem which can be a clincher.”
LGES said it did not have specific plans for India for the moment. “However, we are exploring various potential business options and monitoring (the) market situation closely,” it said in a statement.
Queries sent to Panasonic Energy remained unanswered as of press time Thursday.
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Last month, reports surfaced that the South Korean company was in talks with JSW Energy to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage in a joint venture that would need an investment of over $1.5 billion. The discussions included setting up a plant in India with a total capacity of 10 gigawatt hours, of which JSW was likely to use about 70% for energy storage and electric vehicles and LGES would take the remainder.Panasonic Energy, too, has recently indicated that it wants to speed up setting up a battery plant in India—a project it has been mulling for some time now, someone familiar with the company’s plans said.
“Being a Japanese company, they take their time to evaluate every possible metric before committing to an investment… So, between LGES and Panasonic Energy, LGES is likely to be set up faster, but Panasonic too will follow suit eventually,” the person added.
Senior auto analyst Ashwin Amberkar said the expansion of LGES and Panasonic Energy into the Indian battery market could hold significant implications for the country’s burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) industry.
“India’s EV adoption hinges on affordable, high-performance batteries, and a robust domestic manufacturing base is critical to achieving a strong EV ecosystem to meet domestic and global demand,” he explained. “The entry of these companies would strengthen the supply chain, enable technology transfer, and foster collaborations with Indian automakers, boosting EV affordability and innovation. This move positions India as a key player in the global EV landscape and supports the larger clean energy transition.”
Amberkar further said Panasonic’s expansion in India will complement Tesla, which has reinitiated its effort to establish a manufacturing and export base in the country. “Panasonic’s move to diversify its supply chain away from China aligns well with Tesla’s goals of reducing costs and mitigating geopolitical risks,” he said.
Reports first surfaced in 2023 that Panasonic Energy was setting up a battery manufacturing plant in India under the government’s advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery storage scheme. Then, in April last year, the Panasonic group company announced that it had signed a binding term sheet and initiated discussions with Indian Oil Corporation to draw a framework for formation of a joint venture to manufacture cylindrical lithium-ion batteries.
“This initiative is driven by the anticipated expansion of demand for batteries for two- and three-wheel vehicles and energy storage systems in the Indian market. The two companies will be engaging in a feasibility study regarding the utilisation of battery technology to facilitate the transition to clean energy in India,” the companies said at the time.