The International Battery Company (IBC) of the United States requested 100 acres of land in Bengaluru's IT investment area (ITIR) near Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Monday.

The lithium battery manufacturer intends to invest Rs 8000 crore in the region to establish a manufacturing facility.

On Monday, a team from the IBC met with Industries Minister MB Patil in Bengaluru and made an official request for the parcel of land. "Given the potential for growth in the country's electric vehicle sector, there is a need to scale up lithium cell battery production," Patil added. He stated that the final decision on land allotment will be made after discussing with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The company wants to build a non-captive gigafactory to produce prismatic Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cells.

According to IBC India President Venkatesh Valluri, India will require lithium cell batteries with capacities in the order of 150 gigatonnes by 2030. "If the proposed plant is built, the state will receive approximately Rs 12,300 crores in taxes over the next 20 years," he added.

When Epsilon Advanced Materials established a plant in Karnataka in 2021, it became the first Indian state to have an EV battery production facility.