PCBL Chemical has committed around ₹329 crore across phases to Acetylene Black capacity in Mundra, Gujarat, after becoming one of the first two lithium-battery material suppliers cleared under India's Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), Chief Executive Director Vaneet Kumar said.

The approval carries a subsidy of up to 20% on capital investment for the Acetylene Black lines. "This is, I believe, the first time it has been extended to a material supplier," Kumar said. PCBL (Kolkata, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group) and Epsilon are the only two battery-material suppliers cleared under the scheme.

Where does battery materials sit inside PCBL?

The company runs three platforms: legacy Carbon Black, the acquired Aquapharm specialty chemicals business, and Conductive and Advanced Materials, which houses the battery work. Within that third unit, PCBL is building two material platforms — carbon and silicon — with a longer-term target of becoming a multi-platform player.

What is the status of the carbon line?

A commercial-scale Superconductive Black line in Palej, Gujarat, carries nameplate capacity of about 1,000 metric tons per annum (MTA). Samples sit with customers; lead-acid and dry-battery qualifications are close to completion, while lithium-ion qualification continues after an August trial whose results are pending. The Mundra Acetylene Black project is earlier-stage and is targeted for completion by mid next financial year.

The two carbon grades target different niches. Superconductive Black has the highest conductivity and surface area, fitting fast-charging and supercapacitor use. Acetylene Black, derived from calcium carbide via acetylene gas, carries lower conductivity but matches Super P — the industry benchmark for battery-grade carbon black — on surface area.

Why is silicon in the mix?

Artificial graphite, typically blended with natural graphite, is the standard anode material and has reached a practical energy-density ceiling. Silicon carries theoretical capacity five to six times higher, Kumar said. PCBL is building a 50-metric-tonne silicon facility in Gujarat, with completion targeted this quarter and customer sampling scheduled for the next.

The line runs a chemical-reduction process developed with an Australian technology partner, sidestepping the two dominant global routes — silane-based chemical vapour deposition and mechanical milling. Kumar framed it as combining the lower cost of milling with output quality closer to silane-CVD.

PCBL will start with pure silicon as a precursor, then move downstream into silicon-carbon composites, the mainstream silicon chemistry used in EV cells.

What share of the bill of materials is PCBL chasing?

Combined carbon additives run 2–3% of total cell weight, climbing to about 5% on the anode side in some applications. Silicon loadings typically sit at 5–15% when blended with artificial graphite, with some uses pushing 20–25%. PCBL is also assessing hard carbon as an entry into sodium-ion cells, a chemistry Kumar sees viable for low-speed and last-mile vehicles rather than mainstream EVs at today's energy densities of 120–130 Wh/kg versus LFP's roughly 180 Wh/kg.

How exposed is the project to Chinese competition?

Chinese producers dominate Acetylene Black at scale. Operators there have built "significant overcapacity," creating "a real risk they could undercut on price," Kumar warned. PCBL uses domestic carbon black feedstock oil and silica today but still imports some inputs while it works on local purification.

The ECMS subsidy matters as much as a signal of policy intent — that New Delhi will back upstream chemistry, not just cell assembly.

What to watch next

• Mid next financial year: Acetylene Black commissioning at Mundra
• Next quarter: silicon customer sampling from the Gujarat line
• Following the August trial: lithium-ion qualification of Superconductive Black
• Further ECMS approvals for upstream battery material suppliers beyond Epsilon and PCBL