Aluminum manufacturer Hindalco Industries will set up a ₹8 billion (~$95 million) plant near Sambalpur in Odisha to exponentially increase its manufacturing capacity of aluminum foil used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage systems.

The company, which is a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, expects to initially produce 25,000 tons of the foil widely used in lithium-ion and sodium-ion cells.

The project will be powered by a 25 MW solar power project and access additional solar energy from a 400 kV national grid connection.

The new facility is scheduled for commissioning in July 2025 and will supplement Hindalco’s existing battery foil manufacturing facility at Mouda in Maharashtra.

The Mouda facility is already in the process of qualifying with lithium-ion cell manufacturers in India, Europe, and the United States.

By 2030, India is expected to see the demand for battery-grade aluminum foil in India grow manifold to 40,000 tons, primarily due to the mushrooming growth in gigafactories for advanced cell manufacturing, the company said.

“We are seeing fast traction in battery materials demand, driven by an impressive outlook for the EV and grid storage sectors. Raw material localization is critical in such strategic sectors. Hindalco is thus making various investments in battery materials and technologies towards building Atmanirbhar Bharat. Investment in this new battery foil mill is another such step in this direction,” said Satish Pai, Managing Director at Hindalco.

Cell makers primarily use high-performance aluminum foils as a current collector for the cathode materials.

Hindalco is developing such foils to increase mechanical strength, fine-tune the thickness, and enhance the surface characteristics of these advanced application foils. It is also developing new coatings on the battery foils that will boost performance by delivering better adhesion, lower resistance, and reduced corrosion.

Aluminum anodes showed promise for cheaper, safer, and more powerful batteries that offer higher density and longer driving ranges for EVs, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology recently found.

Hindalco Industries signed a power purchase agreement with Ayana Renewable Power for the supply of 100 MW of round-the-clock renewable power to its smelters in Odisha.