LOHUM to Invest $267 million in New Battery Material Plant in Tamil Nadu
Greater Noida-based LOHUM, a producer of sustainable battery raw materials through recycling, repurposing, and low-carbon refining, has announced a significant investment of ₹2,000 crore ($267 million) over six years in a new plant in Krishnagiri, western Tamil Nadu. This facility will produce Cathode Active Material (CAM) used in battery manufacturing.
The company has acquired 65 acres of land and expects to commence production at the 20-GWh plant within 18 months. In the first phase, LOHUM plans to invest ₹400 crore ($47.8 million) over two years, according to Sachin Maheshwari, Head of Corporate Development, speaking at the CII-UAE Investopia event.
LOHUM aims to supply products to battery manufacturers, including Ola, Exide, TVS, and Amara Raja. The new plant will process 20,000 tonnes of batteries annually for recycling and production of cobalt, nickel, and lithium, each with a 1,000-tonne capacity. A pilot line for CAM production, around 750 MWh, will be scaled up to 20 GWh in phases. Initially, the plant will produce 5 to 10 GWh of material for Gigafactories.
The project benefits from incentives such as the Production Linked Incentive and the Tamil Nadu government subsidy for capital expenditure.
Maheshwari highlighted that LOHUM is well-funded and profitable, with a focus on using its equity to fund construction and working capital. He did not disclose financial specifics but mentioned that the company is no longer a startup and is considering an IPO as a future option.
LOHUM, established six years ago, has evolved from a startup to the world's only company with an end-to-end in-house ecosystem for battery recycling, repurposing, transition materials refining, and CAM production—integrated battery lifecycle management.
In March, LOHUM raised $54 million (₹450 crore) in series B funding from investors including Singularity Growth, Baring Private Equity, Cactus Venture Partners, and Venture East. This funding is intended to fuel market expansion, scale up recycling operations across India, and enter new energy transition materials markets in North America, the EU, West Asia, Africa, and Asia.
As a climate-tech company, LOHUM provides single-point lithium-ion battery recycling and re-use solutions to address industry-wide obstacles to sustainable energy storage. The recovered and recirculated critical lithium-ion battery raw materials help lower battery costs, reduce reliance on mining, and enhance energy security.
