Epsilon Advanced Materials plans Rs 9,000-cr anode facility in Karnataka: MD
New Delhi: Battery materials manufacturer Epsilon Advanced Materials is planning to set up a Rs 9,000-crore anode plant in Karnataka with an annual production capacity of 90,000 tonne, a top official of the company said.
The investment in the plant would be made in two phases. In the first phase, Rs 4,000 crore would be invested and the remaining Rs 5,000 crore would be pumped in the second phase, Epsilon Group Managing Director Vikram Handa said.
"So, we are looking to build a 30,000-tonne anode plant in India by Q4 2026, which will entail an investment of about Rs 4,000 crore. The plant will be scaled up to 90,000 tonne (capacity) by 2031. The total capex outlay is Rs 9,000 crore for our annual business in the next eight years," Handa explained.
With increasing demand of electric vehicles in India, there is a need for Indian cell manufacturing companies to set up battery plants in the country. Epsilon products will act as a sustainable and reliable supplier of anode and cathode material to these cell companies.
This way, Epsilon is playing a key role in the raw material processing ecosystem within the country and even for global demand.
The company plans the groundbreaking ceremony for the plant in the next six to eight months, Handa said, adding that the construction of the plant will take a year and a half.
"The idea is to have supply in the market by 2026-end or 2027 beginning," he explained.
The company plans to partly fund the project in the first phase by customer advance, debt and project financing as well because it is a big amount, he said.
"There is a lot of stickiness of the customer with this product. Today, we need a customer, but once acquired they will remain with us for next seven to eight years because the cost to replace the battery material is too high," Handa added.
The parent entity, Epsilon Carbon, is into the production of speciality carbon and carbon black that goes into tyres. Today, the company has about 1,100 people on-roll and off-roll operating at its plant in Karnataka.
The company is also building a new project in Odisha and announced an investment of Rs 10,000 crore in phases. The first phase is under construction.
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UP: Misled by GPS navigation, car falls into river from partially constructed bridge, 3 dead
Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.
The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.
"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.
The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.
There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.
Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.
The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) November 24, 2024
