Hindalco Invests ₹500 Crores in Pune EV Component Plant

Hindalco Industries commissioned its ₹500-crore electric vehicle (EV) component manufacturing facility at Chakan in Pune on Friday to capitalize on the growing demand for lightweight and crash-resistant battery solutions and cut dependence on imports.

The 5-acre facility is Hindalco's foray into electric vehicle component manufacturing. 10,000 aluminium battery enclosures have already been supplied to M&M Ltd. The battery enclosure has been co-developed with Mahindra.

Satish Pai, Managing Director of Hindalco Industries Ltd., said "Our Chakan facility represents a strategic shift in India's EV ecosystem from import dependence to high-performance, localised aluminium solutions".

Hindalco says that it has reduced the weight by up to 40 percent in relation to conventional steel designs, thus achieving 8-10 percent increase in driving range of the vehicle. It also increases crash safety and contributes significantly towards improved thermal management for battery cooling.

Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director & CEO for Automotive and Farm Sector at M&M Ltd, said "Mahindra has partnered with Hindalco in the creation of the EV journey. Their expertise in developing materials and strong engineering capabilities to offer new solutions have played a key role in developing efficient and sustainable battery enclosure solutions".