Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) has formed a joint venture with a startup from Israel, Phinergy to develop hybrid Lithium-ion and Aluminium-air/ Zinc-air battery systems with a new company IOC Phinergy Pvt Ltd in March.

The JV was announced in the presence of Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG) & Steel and the Dr Yuval Steinitz, Minister of Energy, Israel. Ministry secretaries of India and Israel, ambassadors and leaderships from various automakers were also present during the ceremony.

The JV aims to manufacture Aluminium-Air systems in India to boost India's flagship programme – ‘Make in India’ and recycle used Aluminium to strengthen India's energy security. The new Indo-Israeli JV also intends to develop fuel cells and indigenous hydrogen storage solutions for promoting green mobility. In a significant boost to India's pursuit of e-mobility, two of the leading automotive manufactures in India- Maruti Suzuki and Ashok Leyland signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the newly incorporated JV IOC Phinergy Limited.

Speaking on occasion, Pradhan said, “The fruition of the vision of our Prime Minister has, inter alia, resulted in this Joint Venture.” He said that the joint venture will help India in its journey towards clean, sustainable, affordable, safe and long-lasting energy options and facilitate much faster adoption of e-vehicles in the country.

Pradhan said that energy is integral to support the fast-growing Indian economy and its ambitions. "Our energy sector will be growth-centric, industry-friendly and environment conscious. We have the onerous task of ensuring ample access to energy to improve the lives of Indians coupled with the need to have a smaller carbon footprint. In this scenario, this technology to develop indigenous batteries using locally available Aluminium fits into the energy vision of India as espoused by Prime Minister Modi, wherein he has given a clear call for increasing the contribution of electricity to decarbonise mobility."

Based on domestically available Aluminium, the joint venture plans to manufacture Aluminium-Air systems in India to provide a boost to India's flagship programme ‘Make in India’ and at the same time, recycling of used Aluminium will help India in becoming ‘Aatmanirbhar’ for energy requirements.

He expressed the happiness that apart from Maruti Suzuki, leading automobile industry representatives such as Ashok Leyland and Mahindra Electric are part of the validation of the technology. Pradhan urged the Indian industry, primarily the automotive manufacturers, to extend all necessary support to the joint venture for commercializing the Aluminium-Air technology.

Dr. Yuval Steinitz lauded the initiative, saying that this is indicative of increasingly close cooperation between the two countries.

Tarun Kapoor, Secretary, MoP&NG, said that India's energy demand is going to increase at a faster pace compared to the world, and the country is looking for a breakthrough in storage technology-batteries that are compact, cheaper, lighter and have higher energy density. He described today's initiative as pathbreaking. The minister also launched the logo of the new company.

SM Vaidya, Chairman, IndianOil said, "With one of the most extensive customer interfaces in the country, IndianOil has been working continuously to improve customer's experience and provide solutions for all kinds of energy needs. The JV between IndianOil and Phinergy for commercializing Aluminium-Air technology is an important initiative towards technology-driven Energy Transition. Al-Air technology will help us overcome most of the current challenges for e-Vehicles and address most of the potential customers' pain-points, including range anxiety, higher cost of purchase, and safety issues. This technology will also boost India's existing aluminium industry and help the nation become Self-reliant in the energy field and promote the 'Make in India' drive."

Dr SSV Ramakumar, Director (R&D), IndianOil spoke about the game the changing technology of metal-air battery which would define a new e-mobility paradigm in the Indian context.