Q: How is Lohum making its mark within the battery manufacturing and recycling market amid the brand new age gamers?
Once we began the corporate or once we initially conceived the corporate, probably the most constrained a part of all the ecosystem was the battery materials provide chain. Battery is the most costly element in an electrical car, due to the supplies resembling lithium, cobalt, nickel, and their varied compounds that go into it. Primarily based on the character of the worldwide distribution of those supplies, we realised that they would be the most difficult a part of the worth chain, and we’ve to provide you with an answer to offer battery supplies to the Indian and international ecosystem sustainably. Nearly 90% of this worth chain is managed by China, each when it comes to the varied mining entities the world over and the refining capability it has. We began with the intention to provide battery supplies and our first step in the direction of that was recycling. At present, we’re among the many largest producers of battery supplies in India. And together with recycling, we even have an ancillary exercise, which we name repurposing. When batteries come to us from electrical autos, we test them for his or her well being and if they’re good, we’ll in all probability redeploy them for different functions earlier than recycling.
Q. How does your patented know-how for the repurposing of spent batteries to transform them for his or her second life work?
The important thing problem in changing these spent batteries for his or her second life is to determine how a lot helpful life is left in them. And predicting that helpful life is the world through which we’ve executed a number of analysis and improvement. The patent that we’ve includes a number of work throughout physics-based modelling, empirical modelling and data-based modelling. That’s what we have executed, and this permits us to provide you with a really sturdy and a really correct quantity when it comes to the quantum of helpful life left within the battery.
Q. The place does battery recycling stand as an trade?
The federal government has introduced in rules related to battery recycling. This has put the duty of recycling on all of the producers. Battery-based monitoring instruments got here into impact final yr. There are about 600 approved producers within the nation and so they should submit their battery recycling plans to the federal government and recycle the battery.
Nevertheless, We’re nonetheless within the early days of the recycling ecosystem in India. It could take time earlier than a considerable variety of batteries come again into the recycling market. Now we have a bonus over the West as a result of our main EV segments are two and three-wheelers. The batteries in two wheelers are likely to have shorter life, two to 3 years. This implies, in 5 years, a number of batteries will come again from the two-wheeler phase. The four-wheeler batteries will take extra time, possibly six to eight years earlier than they arrive for recycling.
The manufacturing exercise itself generates a number of scrap, nearly 10% of the supplies. With the PLI scheme for 50 Gigawatt hours, we anticipate nearly 100 gigawatt hours of cell manufacturing capability to be arrange in India, within the subsequent three to 4 years. Numerous supplies would get generated. That is one space round which the battery trade and the recycling trade should construct capacities.
Q. The place does India stand for the time being within the international situation?
The world is in search of an alternate. Not due to any anti- Chinese language sentiment, however extra as a result of everybody desires an edge, an alternative choice to China. Now, India does have a number of capabilities and aggressive benefits, which may make it a powerful different to China. We have a big expertise pool; our price construction is decrease. And we’ve a really massive chemical trade in India.
Now it’s as much as us to grab the momentum and supply the answer. Have we seen some momentum? The reply isn’t any. Can we see any momentum? I see each motive we will. And no hurt, at the very least within the enterprise in producing early benefits for oneself and for the nation to offer options. Once we take into consideration recycling and battery supplies, we do not actually take into consideration India alone as a market, however the world as an entire.
Q. What are the main obstacles you face for the recycling trade within the Indian market, and within the international market as an entire?
I’d say the important thing impediment that any recycler faces is the shortage of implementation and enforcement of guidelines. Which means that there could be a number of unethical gamers available in the market, who will minimize corners to maintain their price low. Recyclers at all times should work with the mindset that there shall be such gamers. For efficient competitors, with restricted sources and totally different priorities, the function of the federal government could be minimal. The easiest way to make sure that you compete successfully is to teach the OEMs and their foremost stakeholders. Educating the market is a part of our enterprise. Schooling takes time, you may’t do it in a single day.
Q. What’s Lohum doing to be environmentally sustainable?
If we step again and suppose, why are we even within the battery enterprise? Why did the world transfer into EVs? The elemental thought was to cut back the carbon footprint. Now, for those who have a look at the statistics at the moment, they’re fairly alarming. As a result of cell producers are literally producing nearly 100 kg of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of cell manufacturing. These are very massive numbers. The query is, the best way to cut back that? How do you deliver down the 100 kg to 30-40 kg? One answer is to maneuver the ability footprint to renewables. However transferring to renewables requires battery storage. The opposite query is the best way to run processes, which eat much less energy and chemical compounds? That’s the space the place Lohum has executed a number of work, we have created a number of processes due to which our energy consumption and chemical consumption are usually among the many lowest on the earth. That permits us a aggressive benefit within the enterprise and retains our prices low. However then it actually helps us attest to the truth that we’re bringing down the carbon dioxide footprint.
Q. It has been 5 years now that you’ve began Lohum. What are the important thing learnings for your self and the enterprise?
I believe the important thing studying on this trade is that the trade in a short time realised the necessity to recycle. There was an excellent tailwind for us as a corporation. We didn’t face the everyday headwind that almost all corporations face initially. There was an excellent tailwind accessible to us. And we took benefit of that. The essential bit was to construct capability in a short time; constructing capacities of two varieties: factories, and abilities. Expertise is far more tough to construct. Discovering people who find themselves proficient or coaching individuals to make them proficient on this explicit space may be very difficult.
This was an space the place we needed to put in a number of effort, notably given the place we’re positioned. However the excellent news is the best way I have a look at it, I did my engineering nearly 20 years in the past. In these days everybody was pondering of software program. At present, any enterprise is about individuals. If we’re seeing a number of younger expertise, transfer them into hardcore engineering. Now we have chemical engineers, chemistry majors, materials science engineers, and metallurgical engineers, who’re all doing the core engineering work that they had been educated in. And if we will maintain constructing on this, I believe, there is a good likelihood that India can grow to be a vital chief within the international ecosystem, in offering options for this trade.
Q. The place does Lohum see itself within the subsequent 5 years?
We need to develop 10 occasions from the place we are actually, within the subsequent 4 to 5 years. We have been working onerous to hit these numbers. It requires lots to construct extra capability, to coach extra individuals. The market may be very a lot there. We do not fear concerning the market as a result of the market dimension may be very massive. However rising requires us to shortly construct capability, shortly practice individuals and be certain that they’re using the capability correctly. And that is what we do on any given day. Simply maintain constructing.
