Chennai's Oragadam belt is best known for cars. It is now getting a battery storage plant.
VSL PowerHive, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vikram Solar, will set up a battery energy storage system (BESS) assembly plant at Oragadam with an annual capacity of 7.5 GWh, according to a company statement reported by the Times of India.
The plan
- Timeline: inauguration in January 2027, with commercial operations expected from April 2027.
- Size: 1.65 lakh sq ft, with room to expand to 15 GWh in later phases.
- Product: lithium iron phosphate (LFP) storage systems for utility-scale and commercial and industrial use, including liquid-cooled battery containers, battery cabinets and storage integrated with renewables.
- Next step: a 7.5 GWh cell manufacturing programme from 2028.
The plant is part of the company's target of 30 GWh of battery manufacturing capacity by 2030. PowerHive says it has also started filing patents for battery technologies developed in India.
Why storage, and why now
Gyanesh Chaudhary, CMD of Vikram Solar, described storage as the bridge between India's renewable ambition and round-the-clock clean power. The demand estimate backs that up. The Central Electricity Authority expects India to need around 47 GW / 236 GWh of energy storage by 2031-32 as solar and wind expand and the grid needs more balancing.
PowerHive CEO Arun Mittal said the company will start with BESS assembly and then move into cell production. That sequence matters. Assembly can use imported cells and get to market quickly. Cell manufacturing is where most of the value and the supply-chain risk sit, and it is the part India has been slowest to localise.
What it means for Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu already hosts a large share of India's electronics and EV manufacturing. A storage plant at Oragadam adds another piece of the clean-energy supply chain to the same corridor, and the company expects it to create skilled jobs and build local talent in storage technology.
There is also a link to the AI build-out. Data centres need steady, round-the-clock power, and storage is part of how renewable-heavy grids provide it. Battery capacity is quickly becoming as strategic as chip capacity.
Source: The Times of India, Vikram Solar to set up 7.5 GWh battery storage plant in TN
