The son-in-law of India’s biggest steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal, Vikram Handa is expected to be the face of Electric Vehicle batteries as his company – Epsilon Advanced Materials Pvt – will receive Rs 60 billion ($807 million) of investment to produce 1 lakh tonnes of synthetic graphite anode by 2030, which will amount to about 10% of the global demand, an Indian Express report said. 

As Electric vehicles have taken on the automotive industry as a more viable choice when it comes to energy consumption and further, the demand for electric vehicle batteries has seen a rise.

According to Hindustan Times, the Norwegian government has announced its goal to achieve the target of going all-electric by 2025. The country saw the EVs make a record share of 54% in total car sales in 2020.

Norway’s Road Traffic Information Council says that, in March 2021, petrol cars recorded a 4.8% market share with 730 units sold and diesel cars registered a 4.7% market share in the country with 723 units sold. The petrol and diesel cars as combined sold less than 1,500 vehicles in the country in March 2020, HT reported. 

Vikram Handa believes that the Indian markets hold a similar potential for Electric vehicles owing to its access to the raw materials, a $20 billion manufacturing incentive plan, a proposed battery materials policy and improving prospects for demand, Al Jazeera reports. 

“I’m quite optimistic on the outlook for India’s battery space over the next decade. It’s going to take another two to three years for really serious money to go into this space but after, you’ll see a lot of money pouring into it. India is such a big auto market that one cannot ignore it,” Al Jazeera quoted him as saying. 

Epilson’s factory will find its roots in Karnataka and is expected to start functioning by August, the Al Jazeera report added. They will source the raw material from the largest steel mill in the country that’s owned Sajjan Jindal.