Battery maker IBC to set up plant in India's Karnataka for nearly $1 bln

Aug 1 (Reuters) - International Battery Company (IBC) has signed an investment pact worth 80 billion rupees ($971.89 million) with Indias southern state of Karnataka to build a battery manufacturing facility, the states minister said on Tuesday.

The manufacturing facility will be spread across 100 acres in the state, Minister for Commerce & Industries, Infrastructure MB Patil said in a post on messaging platform X.

Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that the company would manufacture lithium-ion cells at the facility.

IBC plans to begin production by 2025, Bloomberg News reported, citing Gunjan Krishna, commissioner at Karnatakas Industries and Commerce Department, adding that the private company is aiming to ramp up capacity to 10 gigawatt by 2028.

The company, which met state government officials in June, had then expressed an interest in investing on battery production in Karnataka, Patil had said in a post in June.

($1 = 82.3140 Indian rupees)