Introduction

This case study explores the development of a lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in India, executed by IMARC Engineering as a battery manufacturing EPCM consultant. It outlines the strategic, technical, and execution framework adopted to establish a scalable gigafactory, highlighting IMARC Engineering’s role as gigafactory setup consultant in India in navigating technology selection, infrastructure planning, and project delivery within a rapidly evolving EV and energy storage ecosystem.

Project Overview

An Indian automotive group, partnering with an East Asian cell technology licensor, engaged IMARC Engineering to set up a 5 GWh NMC prismatic cell gigafactory. With India heavily dependent on imported lithium-ion cells and the ACC PLI scheme (INR 18,100 Crore) targeting 50 GWh capacity, the project aimed to capture rising EV and energy storage demand.

The project involved developing a 5 GWh per annum facility manufacturing 70Ah and 110Ah prismatic NMC cells for automotive and grid-scale use. The site and infrastructure were designed with scalability in mind, enabling seamless Phase 2 expansion to 15 GWh as demand and market adoption accelerate.

Client's Challenges

The client faced several specific challenges in establishing greenfield cell manufacturing in India:

• Technology localisation: Adapting the licensor's cell chemistry, formation protocols, and process windows to Indian raw material specifications, ambient conditions, and grid power quality without compromising performance benchmarks.
• Dry room engineering: Achieving and maintaining ultra-low humidity environments (dewpoint of −40°C, equivalent to <100 ppm moisture) across 12,000 sq.m of electrode and cell assembly areas.
• PLI scheme compliance: Meeting the ACC PLI Domestic Value Addition (DVA) milestones, 25% by year 2 and 60% by year 5, in a sector with limited Indian component ecosystems for cathode active material, separators, and electrolytes.
• Critical mineral supply security: Establishing reliable cathode active material, anode graphite, separator, and electrolyte supply amid concentrated global sources and elevated geopolitical exposure.
• Skilled workforce gap: Building a 3,400-person workforce for cell production in a nascent Indian battery manufacturing ecosystem with virtually no experienced operator base.
• Safety and certification readiness: Engineering for fire suppression, thermal runaway containment, and compliance with IEC 62660-2/-3, UN 38.3, BIS IS 16893, and ISO 26262 functional safety from day one.

What We Did

• Pre-Investment and Strategic Advisory

Our feasibility study assessed five candidate states (Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana) against 14 weighted criteria including grid stability, water availability, port proximity, labour availability, and state-level capital subsidies. Sanand (Gujarat) was selected based on Mundra port proximity (210 km), assured grid availability through a 132 kV dedicated feeder, Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020 capital subsidy of 12%, and an existing automotive OEM cluster for downstream off-take.

CapEx planning of INR 3,300 Crore covered electrode coating and calendering lines, dry rooms, formation and aging facilities, quality and reliability testing labs, and 132 kV substation infrastructure. Our team led the ACC PLI bid preparation that secured an allocation of 5 GWh under Tranche 1, with detailed financial modelling demonstrating IRR of 17.8% at full ramp and a payback of 7.2 years inclusive of PLI accruals.

• Engineering and Design Services

IMARC designed a 78,000 sq.m facility across electrode preparation, cell assembly, formation/aging, and pack-ready cell finishing zones. The dry room complex covering 12,000 sq.m was engineered to maintain a dewpoint of −40°C through multi-stage desiccant dehumidification (twin-tower lithium chloride and silica gel rotors) with redundant N+1 configuration, supplied by 6,800 TR of chilled water capacity and 24,000 m³/hr of make-up air.

Plant layout incorporated automated material flow with AGV corridors (4.2 km cumulative), segregated electrode and electrolyte handling zones, and Class 10,000 cleanroom envelopes for assembly. Utility design covered 40 MW of contracted demand with a 12 MW dedicated solar rooftop (38,000 panels) feeding the HT bus, 12 MLD process water with closed-loop recycling, centralised compressed dry air at −70°C dewpoint, and on-site nitrogen generation (480 Nm³/hr at 99.999% purity).

• Procurement and Supply Chain Support

We executed a multi-geography procurement programme spanning 87 critical vendors. Coating, calendering, and notching lines were sourced from Korean OEMs, winding and stacking equipment from Germany, formation and aging systems from China, and metrology from Japan. Civil, MEP, and clean utility packages were awarded to qualified Indian contractors following rigorous pre-qualification on prior dry-room and pharma-cleanroom track records.

Raw material sourcing strategy combined long-term offtake agreements with three cathode active material suppliers covering 60,000 MT cumulative across five years, anode graphite from Australian and Mozambican sources processed at an Indian conversion facility, and separator films from two qualified East Asian sources. Vendor qualification protocols included on-site audits, FAT and SAT validation, and incoming material specifications with full elemental and electrochemical characterisation.

• Project Execution and Site Management

Our turnkey project management delivered 28 months from groundbreaking to commissioning, coordinating civil construction, dry-room shell erection, equipment import logistics, and integrated commissioning of 320+ specialised machines. We managed construction of the main production block (44,000 sq.m), formation and aging warehouse (18,000 sq.m), Tier 1 supplier park (8,500 sq.m), and the central utility block.

Installation supervision ensured battery-grade specifications: 316L stainless steel and PFA-lined wetted surfaces, copper bus-bar formation racks rated to 4,200 channels, validated humidity sensors with ±1% RH accuracy, and SCADA integration logging 1.2 million data points per shift across critical control parameters. Multi-vendor coordination across Korean, German, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian contractors required parallel-track execution protocols, weekly integration reviews, and a dedicated 24-strong owner's engineering team on site.

• Operations Readiness and Ramp-Up

We developed 215 SOPs covering electrode preparation, assembly, formation, quality release, and emergency response. Workforce planning recruited and trained 3,400 personnel across operations, quality, and engineering, including 240 personnel rotated through the licensor's overseas facility for hands-on training and 78 senior engineers placed on six-month embedded assignments.

Production ramp-up monitoring tracked yield evolution from 71% (month 1) to 93.5% (month 12), with weekly steering reviews driving root-cause closure on 142 process anomalies. Post-commissioning performance validation confirmed achievement of design throughput within 18 months and energy density of 248 Wh/kg at cell level, within 1.6% of the licensor benchmark.

• Compliance, Quality and Sustainability

IMARC led certification readiness across BIS IS 16893 Parts 2/3, UN 38.3 transport testing, IEC 62660-2 abuse testing, IEC 62660-3 reliability, and ISO 9001/14001/45001 management systems. We implemented an integrated quality system with electrical testing on 100% of cells, X-ray inspection at three stages, helium leak detection, and dimensional CMM verification.

Environmental compliance covered Central Ground Water Authority clearance, Gujarat Pollution Control Board consent to operate, Hazardous Waste Authorisation for electrolyte and solvent management, and Extended Producer Responsibility registration for end-of-life cell take-back. The facility achieved IGBC Gold certification through a 38% renewable energy share, water-positive status (1.18x recycled vs. drawn), and 27% lower embedded carbon versus imported cell benchmarks per third-party LCA study.

Final Results

Operational Performance

The facility achieved commissioning in 28 months, with the first 70Ah cells produced in month 26. Full 5 GWh nameplate capacity was reached by month 18 of operations at 91% utilisation, with a defect rate of 142 ppm across the full year (industry benchmark: 220 ppm). Cell-level energy density of 248 Wh/kg, cycle life of 3,200 cycles to 80% state-of-health at 1C/1C, and a calendar life projection of 12 years were validated through accelerated testing on 480 sample cells.

Financial Outcomes

Final CapEx of INR 3,180 Crore delivered 3.6% savings against budget through optimised civil packaging, multi-source equipment procurement, and efficient site logistics. ACC PLI Tranche 1 disbursement of INR 268 Crore was secured against year-1 production milestones, with cumulative PLI eligibility of INR 1,420 Crore over the scheme tenure. Year-1 revenue of INR 4,800 Crore was generated against off-take agreements covering 4.1 GWh annually.

Market Access

The facility secured BIS IS 16893 and UN 38.3 certifications within 9 months of commissioning, with four automotive OEM customer qualifications completed (three Indian and one Southeast Asian) covering passenger EV, electric two-wheeler, and stationary storage applications. Long-term supply agreements were signed with two Tier 1 EV manufacturers totaling 2.6 GWh of contracted annual volume through 2030.

Sustainability Impact

Our energy-efficient design, combining 12 MW captive solar, heat recovery from formation cycling, and variable-frequency drives across all motor loads, achieves 26% lower energy consumption versus imported cell LCA benchmarks, saving INR 92 Crore annually in energy costs. Closed-loop water systems recover 96% of process water, saving 4.2 million m³ annually. The facility holds IGBC Gold certification and is on track for net-zero scope 1+2 emissions by 2030.

Strategic Impact

The project established India's first major NMC prismatic cell gigafactory and demonstrated viability of localised cell production at competitive landed cost (within 8% of imported parity at full ramp). The client has approved Phase 2 expansion to 15 GWh and a parallel cathode active material precursor facility, positioning India as a credible alternative in the global EV battery supply chain. IMARC Engineering's end-to-end EPCM advisory enabled the client to achieve technology localisation, regulatory readiness, and commercial viability in a sector where execution risk had previously deterred Indian investment.