As India accelerates its electric mobility transition, the spotlight has turned to the next big frontier—advanced EV battery systems. From cutting-edge materials and smart digital platforms to circular economy innovations, the country’s EV ecosystem is undergoing a major transformation driven by global and domestic pioneers. In this exclusive cover story, Rashmi Verma interacted with Divakar Gokhale, Head of Mobility – Indian Subcontinent & Head of Business Development – Indian Subcontinent, Covestro; Kiran Devlukia, Global Head Electrical & Electronic Integration CoE, Tata Technologies; Bharath Rao, Co-Founder and CEO of Emobi; and Anupam Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of MiniMines, to decode how innovation, material science, and sustainability are shaping the batteries of tomorrow.
From Covestro’s recyclable high-CTI polycarbonate solutions enhancing battery safety and stability, to Tata Technologies’ digital WATTSync platform ensuring traceability and regulatory compliance, and Emobi’s work on solid-state electrolytes and AI-integrated battery packs—each leader reveals how India is redefining performance, safety, and longevity benchmarks. Adding to that, MiniMines’ breakthrough Hybrid-Hydrometallurgy (HHM™) process demonstrates how critical minerals recovery and reuse can drive true circularity. Together, these insights chart a powerful narrative—one where India’s EV battery innovation ecosystem is setting global standards for efficiency, sustainability, and next-generation energy storage.
What are the latest innovations in EV battery pack design that your company is working on, and how do they improve performance, safety, and lifespan?
Speaking on the topic Mr. Divakar Gokhale, Head of Mobility – Indian Subcontinent & Head of Business Development – Indian Subcontinent, Covestro, said, “At Covestro, we’re developing innovative material grades for EV battery pack design through collaborative discussions with EV OEMs and battery manufacturers. Our focus is on cell contacting systems that ensure reliable power supply – crucial for overall battery performance.
Our innovations aim to improve:
- Safety: Through fire retardancy enhancements in our materials
- Performance: By developing materials with dimensional stability and low warpage
- Lifespan: Creating materials that enable easier assembly and more reliable designs
These advancements are developed by our global team of experts across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, utilizing our state-of-the-art development facilities worldwide. Covestro is already a key supplier of materials for cell holders, CCS holders and powertrain parts. Our materials help enable faster scale-up and mass production of EV batteries while maintaining the critical safety and performance requirements.
Mr. Kiran Devlukia, Global Head Electrical & Electronic Integration CoE, Tata Technologies, said, “Tata Technologies delivers a range of battery pack solutions that work across multiple industries and applications globally, ranging from high-performance and high-volume automotive for OEMs and Tier 1s to industrial energy storage solutions. As an engineering services provider delivering a vast array of solutions, all with variable energy, attributes, duty cycles, operating environments, and cost challenges, it presents a unique challenge to ensure the optimum solution. A balance of not over- or under-engineering is required to achieve the right level of performance, cost, and quality. Our internally developed robust and holistic end-to-end new product introduction (NPI 2.0) and system engineering approach for energy storage and power delivery solutions is our main innovation and differentiator. Our unique and innovative PULSE platform provides end-to-end traceability from clean sheet requirements through the design, development, validation through to end sign off. This enables us to monitor, iterate, and ensure quality, reliability, performance, safety, and longevity of use. We can provide secure access directly to customers, suppliers and test houses to allow live reporting and a centralised single source of truth data. Most recently, we have upgraded our own internally developed electric vehicle modular platform with an 800V Blade cell to pack solution and in-house developed power electronics solutions that improve overall package and space efficiency, improve structural integrity, and reduce complexity and part count.”
Mr. Bharath Rao, Co-Founder and CEO of Emobi, said, “We are currently working on EV battery pack design focusing on using solid-state electrolytes and advanced materials like silicon anodes and high-nickel cathodes to improve energy density, and the integration of AI and better thermal management to enhance performance, safety, and lifespan. These advancements aim to increase driving range, enable faster charging, improve safety by reducing fire risk, and extend the operational life of the battery pack.”
How is your R&D addressing the use of advanced materials and minerals in battery packs to enhance efficiency while ensuring sustainability?
Mr. Divakar Gokhale, Head of Mobility – Indian Subcontinent & Head of Business Development – Indian Subcontinent, Covestro, said, “Performance, safety and reliability are key aspects in the battery pack segment. The development of high-voltage, fast charging systems demands robust materials and designs that ensure safety.
Covestro delivers this by combining the best of two material worlds, high CTI – a property often associated with semi-crystalline plastics, with the dimensional stability, and property consistency of amorphous polycarbonates (PC). The innovative high CTI polycarbonate solution transforms how battery cell contacting systems are developed and manufactured using amorphous PC that offers high dimension stability, high flame retardancy (FR), high heat resistance and excellent mechanics. Polycarbonate and also its blends being thermoplastic in nature, are completely recyclable and reusable as post-consumer recycled materials.”
Mr. Kiran Devlukia, Global Head Electrical & Electronic Integration CoE, Tata Technologies, said, “WATTSync is our secure and scalable digital battery passport solution designed to enable end-to-end traceability, regulatory compliance, and circular economy goals across the battery value chain. The platform supports evolving global mandates like the EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542 and ensures interoperability across systems, geographies, and supply chain partners. Advantages are an end-to-end value chain solution built for OEMs, battery manufacturers, and recyclers alike. WATTSync captures, validates, and shares critical battery lifecycle data—from raw material sourcing to end-of-life reuse and recycling. This allows real-time sustainable decision-making in design and sourcing. Equally, all our latest designs are all engineered with design for manufacture and design for service at the forefront, with focus on methods that allow for disassembly, repair and second life reuse”
Mr. Bharath Rao, Co-Founder and CEO of Emobi, said, “In the electric vehicle sector, R&D is increasingly concentrated on creating battery packs that strike a balance between high performance and environmental sustainability. Advanced materials such as silicon-based anodes, solid-state electrolytes, and high-nickel cathodes are being explored to boost energy density, increase driving range, and enable faster charging speeds. For example, solid-state batteries offer up to 50% higher energy density, faster charging, and improved safety due to their stable solid electrolytes. Moreover, research emphasizes reducing dependency on critical minerals like cobalt and lithium, enhancing recycling processes, and utilizing locally sourced or alternative materials. Battery designs are also evolving to allow easier disassembly and reuse, supporting a circular economy model. The overarching aim of these innovations is to develop batteries that not only deliver superior efficiency and longer life but also minimize their environmental footprint through sustainable sourcing, manufacturing, and end-of-life recycling strategies. This dual focus on performance and sustainability is crucial for advancing the EV industry’s role in a greener future.”
Mr. Anupam Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, MiniMines, said, “At MiniMines, our R&D is focused on improving the recovery and reuse of advanced materials and critical minerals from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries to strengthen the domestic battery ecosystem. Using our patented Hybrid-Hydrometallurgy (HHM)™ process, we recover over 96% of high-purity lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and graphite from used li-ion batteries. These recovered materials meet the purity standards required for manufacturing new cells, directly reducing India’s dependence on imported raw materials and supporting the circular use of essential resources.
We are also working on improving the efficiency and sustainability of next-generation battery packs by studying how recycled precursors can perform on par with virgin materials in terms of energy density, safety, and lifecycle performance. This approach lowers the carbon footprint associated with traditional mining and refining while ensuring that every material extracted once continues to contribute to the clean energy value chain. Through this, our R&D supports India’s goal of achieving self-reliance in critical minerals and sustainable energy storage.”
Can you share your approach to testing EV battery systems—both in the lab and under real-world conditions—to ensure reliability and safety?
Mr. Divakar Gokhale, Head of Mobility – Indian Subcontinent & Head of Business Development – Indian Subcontinent, Covestro, said, “In this context, a high Comparative Tracking Index (CTI) according to IEC 60112 (solution A, 50 drops, measured al UL) is used to assess the relative resistance of insulating materials to avoid electrical breakdown at high voltages.
Our high CTI battery material solutions, Bayblend® FR3015 CTI and Makrolon® FR6019 CTI, offer safety, and processability for cell contacting systems within battery applications, while enhancing the performance over conventional PC materials in terms of electrical insulating properties. Benefits include:
- Highest possible CTI-rating of 600V according to IEC60112
- UL94 V-0 flame retardancy rating at 1.5 mm
- Exceptional dimensional stability and low isotropic shrinkage achieved without glass fibers
- Stable properties across a wide temperature range
Mr. Kiran Devlukia, Global Head Electrical & Electronic Integration CoE, Tata Technologies, said, “The challenges for EV battery packs of cost, performance, mass, thermal management, energy density and charge time will remain, as will the range of voltages driven by product attribute requirements. However, we are witnessing a shift toward increasing overall sustainability and reducing the reliance on rare earth materials. The existing range of cell form factors and chemistries will also continue, with LFP gaining increased share across global markets. We envisage new technologies such as solid-state batteries and cobalt-free solutions using Sodium-Ion will begin production in the mainstream. Platform strategies from OEMs are seeing more than ever vertical integration of the EV pack with less reliance on Tier 1 manufacturers and driving two approaches: the first is increased uptake on Cell to pack solutions for high volume applications in next gen EVs. The second is the shift toward standardisation of modules and packs that can be applied across multiple platforms and vehicles to gain cost benefits across a range of products and reduce complexity. Wireless solutions in charging and BMS are gaining more penetration, as will the use of Intelligent AI solutions, Digital twin solutions such as the Battery Passport (ref WATTSync) and predictive failure and prognostics as all batteries become fully connected.”
With India’s EV market growing rapidly, how is your company scaling battery production while maintaining quality and meeting market demand?
Mr. Divakar Gokhale, Head of Mobility – Indian Subcontinent & Head of Business Development – Indian Subcontinent, Covestro, said, “India has witnessed rapid growth in the EV sector over the last 2 years and the growth is expected to continue. The demand for longer driving range also grows. Therefore, batteries and the corresponding size of plastic applications are likely to expand as well. Traditional development approaches using fiber-reinforced semi-crystalline materials have their own limitations.
Covestro delivers complete support from concept to mass production for innovative battery system solutions, addressing critical customer pain points:
- Expert assistance in part design, as well as mechanical, rheological, and thermal simulations
- Component testing and R&D capabilities for application optimizations
- Global development centers with experts in Pittsburgh, Shanghai, and Leverkusen
- Dedicated support for mass battery production launches
Recently at K2025 exhibition in Germany, we showcased how our material innovation is transforming battery technology – proving that the right combination of advanced materials and application expertise creates effects that exceed traditional performance boundaries.
Covestro has production sites and research & development centres across the globe – Asia, Europe and Americas. This means that we can produce the materials for EV batteries across all plants in the world that meet global regulations and standards like UL and IEC. We also offer global technical support, ensuring consistent quality and scalable solutions for the fast-growing battery market – making us truly a global supplier of choice.”
What are the next big trends or technologies in EV battery packs that you believe will define the industry over the next 3–5 years?
Mr. Divakar Gokhale, Head of Mobility – Indian Subcontinent & Head of Business Development – Indian Subcontinent, Covestro, said, “Next 3-5 years will see new battery chemistries and hybrid technologies evolving globally. Every EV Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) has their own technology and production roadmap. The demand for efficient and fast charging, longer driving ranges and robust charging infrastructure will grow.
Withdrawal of subsidies will push more efficient cost and production management at each level of the EV value chain. Lightweighting, glazing, large displays inside and outside of the EV, sensory applications, C2X connectivity, personalization would be key development trends. Autonomous driving, digitalization, artificial intelligence will influence the future technology innovations. Covestro is gearing up to embrace these upcoming trends.”
Mr. Bharath Rao, Co-Founder and CEO of Emobi, said, “Over the next three to five years, I believe we’ll see a major shift toward smarter, more sustainable, and modular battery technologies. Solid-state batteries are certainly on the horizon; they promise higher energy density, faster charging, and improved safety. But beyond chemistry, I think the real breakthroughs will come from intelligent battery management systems that use AI and data analytics to predict performance, extend life, and optimize charging behavior.
We’ll also see greater focus on modular and swappable pack designs, which can significantly reduce downtime and make fleet operations more efficient. On the sustainability front, localized material sourcing and closed-loop recycling will become integral to the ecosystem.
In short, the future of battery technology won’t just be about more range or faster charging, it’ll be about intelligence, adaptability, and circularity built into every layer of the system.”
Mr. Anupam Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, MiniMines, said, “The EV battery sector will see the three prominent trends: chemistry diversification, second life use, and material circularity. Battery manufacturers are already exploring chemistries outside conventional lithium-ion ones; alternatives like LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries and solid-state batteries are being commercially introduced into the market. These alternatives assure greater safety, longer life cycles, and improved thermal stability.
Another key development shaping the sector is the growing emphasis on “Design to Dismantle”, an initiative that encourages manufacturers to design batteries with end-of-life recovery and recyclability in mind. This approach enables easier separation of components such as cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes, reducing waste and improving material recovery efficiency. Coupled with advancements in battery management systems (BMS), cell-to-pack architectures, and lightweight composite materials, this shift ensures that batteries are not only high-performing but also easier to recycle, repair, and reuse. Together, these innovations will help India build a more sustainable, cost-efficient, and circular energy storage ecosystem.
The potential for recycling and reusing critical materials will also be critically important. As more EVs make their way through to end of life, reclaimed lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc. will be critical inputs into new cell manufacturing. The paradigm will shift from a linear production model to one focused on closed-loop ecosystems where batteries can be easily disassembled, traced, and reused. In India, this shift is consistent with the government’s National Critical Minerals Mission and EPR framework around recycling, where stakeholders including recyclers, OEMs, and policymakers will have incentives to work together. The next period of growth in the EV battery sector will be dictated by the intertwining of advanced chemistry, efficient design, and circular supply chains.
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