Amara Raja partners with Chinese EV battery maker Gotion; stock jumps 20%

Shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility soared 20% on Tuesday after the battery company’s wholly-owned unit Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies Pvt Ltd signed a technical licensing agreement with GIB EnergyX Slovakia, a subsidiary of China’s Gotion High-Tech Co Ltd.

As part of the agreement, GIB EnergyX will license Gotion’s lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology for lithium-ion cells to Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies.

This comprehensive agreement enables Amara Raja to manufacture LFP cells in both cylindrical and prismatic form factors. The scope of licensing provides access to cell technology intellectual property (IP), support in establishing Gigafactory facilities conforming to latest generation process technologies, integration with Gotion’s global supply chain network for critical battery materials, and customer technical support for solution deployment.

Reacting to the development, shares of Amara Raja Energy hit a high of ₹1,656.05 on the BSE, taking the battery maker’s market cap to nearly ₹30,000 crore.

The technology transfer and service support will fully complement Amara Raja’s efforts to operationalise its Gigafactory manufacturing capacities and its advanced research and innovation centre, ‘e+ Energy Labs’, that aims to lead India’s R&D capabilities in this field, the company says in a statement.

Last year, Amara Raja announced an investment outlay of ₹9,500 crore to establish the Amara Raja Giga Corridor in the state of Telangana. The company aims to keep their products competitive and contemporary through access to continuous improvements in cell performance and process efficiencies through the partnership period.

Amara Raja and Gotion are both shareholders and board members of InoBat, an emerging lithium battery technology company in Slovakia, tackling advanced applications such as electric aviation and developing a ‘Cradle to Cradle' ecosystem of battery value chain.

GIB, a joint venture between Gotion High-tech and InoBat, has recently signed an investment agreement with the Government of Slovakia for the development of the first LFP battery Gigafactory in the country.

Gotion High-Tech has 8 global R&D centres, 8,000 patented technologies covering the battery industry value chain, 20 major manufacturing locations around the world, and a capacity layout expected to reach 300 gigawatt hour (GWh) by 2025.

“Last year's announcements on our investments in the new energy space are part of ushering in a new era we are calling Amara Raja 3.0. We firmly believe that India will be one of the fastest growing EV markets, and that Gotion’s globally proven technology coupled with our three decades of expertise in the energy and mobility space will be a winning combination,” says Jayadev Galla, chairman and managing director, Amara Raja Energy & Mobility.

India is an exciting market with significant growth potential, says Steven Cai, chairman, GIB EnergyX and director, Gotion HighTech. “Gotion has built strong competitive position with its product technology and Gigafactory manufacturing expertise over the years and continues to offer innovative solutions across the New Energy value chain,” says Cai.