A hands-on training session for lithium-ion cell fabrication workshop was conducted by Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) and India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA).
The lab sessions were held in Pune on March 11 and 12, 2020 for companies interested in learning about the latest technology trends and understanding the fundamentals of cell manufacturing.
10 participants from leading companies across battery manufacturing, automotive component manufacturing, ESS technology, and investment companies participated in the workshop.
Satyajit Phadke, Manager- R&D, Customized Energy Solutions, who led the workshop highlighted that “So far such training was mainly available in developed countries such as Germany and US. This workshop is our effort to help bring down the costs of such training capabilities and also help the industry get a better appreciation of the R&D facilities available within India. Our R&D initiative is industry-focused and we’re helping clients to solve the challenges that they are facing while deploying storage solutions for any application be it Stationary, EV or other”.
Speaking about the workshop, Bharat Kale, Director of Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology, said, “CMET is glad to be part of India Energy Storage Alliance who has a vision of making India a global hub for R&D, manufacturing and adoption of advanced energy storage and e-mobility technologies. Through Centre of Excellence of reachable batteries created by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), New Delhi, CMET has the Li-ion fabrication facility for Cathode, Anode and for Single Cell."
He further added, "Currently, Indian battery manufacturers are importing singe cells and making batteries of different capacities required in different verticals. India’s first workshop by IESA along with CMET is a step towards it. We thank MeitY for creating such a facility and further [Li-ion fabrication] initiative in this regard at CMET Pune”.
Rahul Walawalkar, President, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) opined, “Assembling of Li-ion battery packs is a dynamic industry in India and is growing at a healthy pace. At IESA, we, however, believe that it is high time for the Indian industry to take up R&D and advanced cell manufacturing so that we reduce our dependence on other countries."
"The recent pandemic related to COVID19 has highlighted the importance of domestic manufacturing considering the risk of global supply chain disruptions. Energy storage and EVs have importance for national energy security and we should learn from the recent events and accelerate our efforts for building domestic capabilities”, added Walwalkar.