On Friday, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura announced that Japan will provide up to $1.8 billion in subsidies for a variety of storage battery and chip-related projects, signalling Tokyo's latest push towards greater supply chain security.

The government intends to provide up to 184.6 billion yen ($1.38 billion) in subsidies for eight storage battery-related proposals and up to 56.4 billion yen for two semiconductor-related projects, according to Nishimura.

Among the proposals it will support is a plan by Honda Motor Co Ltd and battery manufacturer GS Yuasa Corp to invest about 430 billion yen in storage battery production, with the ministry providing up to 158.7 billion yen in subsidies.

"We have great expectations that this will lead to the stable supply of storage batteries and the promotion of GX (green transformation)," Nishimura said.

The minister's remarks came after the Nikkei newspaper reported late Thursday that Honda and GS Yuasa will collaborate to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and homes.

Honda and GS Yuasa will begin by constructing a new plant with a production capacity of at least 20 gigawatt hours (GWh), according to Nikkei, without specifying where the plant will be located.

Honda and GS Yuasa declined to comment, saying they would issue a press release later on Friday. "What minister Nishimura said is everything right now," a GS Yuasa spokesperson said.