Sodium-Ion Batteries to Give Freedom to Vehicle Owners, Income to Farmers
Hyderabad: Sodium-ion batteries are the last missing block needed for India’s full energy independence. These batteries are said to be a better alternative to existing batteries that use lithium-ion because they are safer, cheaper, less polluting, recharge quickly, and are no longer in the experimental phase.
Companies like CATL are already moving towards mass production, with commercial EV deployments expected from 2026. Many governments, especially China, support this change to reduce dependence on lithium, cobalt and nickel supply chains. And India cannot afford to remain a passive adopter.
Sodium-ion batteries offer three structural advantages for India: They are abundantly available domestically, unlike lithium, which India largely imports. This reduces geopolitical risk and strengthens energy security. Lower raw material costs make sodium ion batteries ideal for entry-level EVs used for urban travel and grid storage, especially in the microgrid project discussed earlier. Sodium-ion batteries have a lower risk of thermal runaway, making them safer than lithium-ion batteries. These can also be used for buses.
Although the government has already recognized batteries as a strategic sector through Rs. Despite the 18,100 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cells incorporating sodium ion technologies, the Indian industry’s current efforts remain lithium-centric and sodium ion remains underfunded and de-prioritised.
Currently, India’s R&D ecosystem is fragmented. Without major financing, Indian companies may be overtaken by Chinese and Western firms that already have sodium-ion batteries in the commercialization stage.
According to an analysis by the Energy, Environment and Water Council, India needs to build a complete sodium ion ecosystem, including cathode and electrolyte production, aluminum current collectors, battery cell assembly lines and hard carbon manufacturing facilities.
Hard carbon is the key anode material for sodium ion batteries, and this is both a challenge and an opportunity. This is a challenge because its production involves complex processes. This is an opportunity because hard carbon is produced using biomass such as agricultural waste, coconut shells, among others, and will provide an alternative source of income to farmers. Agricultural stubble burned by farmers in the north, which causes massive air pollution in Delhi, can be used efficiently to produce hard carbon, creating a win-win scenario.
As the world turns to sodium-ion batteries, economies of scale could help India become the leading global exporter of hard carbon. The government should therefore encourage setting up private hard carbon production clusters by offering viability gap financing (VGF) for initial installations and through public-private partnerships.
