India's Adani Group Denies Seeking Battery Collaboration With BYD

According to foreign media reports, insiders recently revealed that India's Adani Group is exploring cooperation with China's electric vehicle giant BYD, which would enable the group to produce batteries in India and further advance its presence in the clean energy sector.

A knowledgeable source stated that Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group and an Indian billionaire, personally led talks with BYD executives, with the most recent meeting held last week.

Image source: BYD

According to informed sources, this cooperation stems from the strategic plan of the Adani Group: the group plans to mass-produce lithium-ion batteries on a large scale for use in the electric vehicle sector as well as stationary energy storage systems.

Since the world's most cost-effective advanced rechargeable battery technology is currently dominated by Chinese manufacturers, insiders revealed that the Adani Group considers reaching a technology agreement crucial to achieving its goals. The sources added that the technical cooperation negotiations between Adani and BYD are still in the preliminary stages and remain highly uncertain.

BYD is an ideal technology partner for the Adani Group; not only is it the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer by sales, but it also maintains a leading position in the field of power battery technology.

However, regarding the above report, the Adani Group denied it in a document submitted to the stock exchange on August 4, stating that it "has not explored any form of cooperation with BYD in battery manufacturing in India." BYD did not respond to requests for comment.

BYD has now become one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers, with its batteries and charging systems capable of providing approximately 400 kilometers (about 249 miles) of range in 5 minutes.

Due to the saturation of the Chinese market and being blocked from the U.S. market by high tariffs, BYD is actively exploring new markets, especially populous emerging economies such as India.

Insiders say that Adani does not place all his hopes on BYD; he has also held talks with several Chinese renewable energy companies, including Beijing Weilan New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. However, the Adani Group has denied this claim.

Sources added that although the Adani Group can also acquire battery technology from European and Korean companies, no company can match Chinese firms in terms of cost performance.