Hyderabad: Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies (ARACT) commissioned its customer qualification plant (CQP) at its upcoming Giga corridor at Divitipally in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana, advancing India’s lithium-ion battery manufacturing ambitions and setting the stage for commercial cell production next year.The facility was inaugurated by chief minister A Revanth Reddy. Built with an investment of about ₹500 crore, the CQP is part of Amara Raja’s wider ₹9,500 crore, 16 GWh gigafactory programme and the company’s Phase 1 investment of more than ₹1,500 crore in the state.With an initial capacity of 60 MWh and more than 100 employees, the plant will produce lithium-ion cells in cylindrical and prismatic formats across multiple chemistries.The cells will be supplied from Aug 2026 to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers for qualification, testing and approval before high-volume production.The CQP will bridge the gap between laboratory research and commercial manufacturing, enabling validation of processes before scaling to Giga 1, Amara Raja’s first 2 GWh commercial cell facility that is scheduled to commence operations in June-July 2027.“Amara Raja’s CQP represents a significant step in building India’s battery manufacturing value chain and reinforces Telangana’s position at the forefront of the country’s clean energy revolution,” Revanth Reddy said.The CM said Telangana currently contributes about 5% to national GDP, which he termed as inadequate, and set targets of doubling that share to 10% by becoming a $1-trillion economy by 2034 and a $3-trillion economy by 2047.Lauding Amara Raja for competing with China in the clean mobility sector, the CM said that out of the 700 people currently working at the Amara Raja unit in Divitipally, 400 are women. He also urged Amara Raja to ensure that farmers who gave their lands for the company’s Giga corridor project are provided jobs in the new EV cell manufacturing unit.
