The Greater Noida-based LOHUM, will invest Rs 2,000 crore over a six-year period in a new plant at Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, towards the production of cathode active material (CAM) which is used in battery manufacture.

The company, a producer of sustainable battery raw materials through recycling, repurposing and low-carbon refining, has 65 acres of land, and expects to start work at the 20-GWh plant in 18 months. In the first phase, it will invest Rs 400 crore in a span of two years. The products will be supplied to battery manufacturers, including Ola, Exide, TVS and Amara Raja. The company has seven plants in Noida, one in Gujarat, one in Krishnagiri and one in the UAE.

The plant will take 20,000 tpa of batteries for recycling and production of cobalt, nickel and lithium with each 1,000 tonne capacity, a pilot line for production of CAM, at around 750 MWh. This will be scaled up at the Krishnagiri plant to 20 GWh in phases. The plant will initially produce five to 10 GWh.

The incentives include production linked incentive and the state government subsidy for capex.

In March, LOHUM had raised USD 54 million (Rs 450 crore) in series-B funding from Singularity Growth, Baring Private Equity, Cactus Venture Partners & Venture East is to fuel its market expansion, scaling up recycling operations across India, and also expanding to North America, the EU, West Asia, Africa, and Asia.