Aditi Sharma

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Indian refiner giant Reliance Industries purchased Lithium Werks’ assets for $61million. This is its second acquisition in as little as three months. It makes a greater push to clean energy and transportation.

Reliance made a large investment in Lithium Werks to produce lithium iron phosphate battery that is primarily used in electric cars (EVs). The company also provided funding for its future growth plans, it said on Monday.

It said that the assets acquired by its subsidiary Reliance New Energy included Lithium Werks’ portfolio of approximately 219 patents and a China manufacturing plant, as well as key business contracts, employees, and other important business agreements.

Reliance seeks to decrease its dependence on the mainstay oil to chemicals business. The company plans to invest 10 billion in clean-energy projects, to improve its green credentials and reach net zero carbon emission by 2035.

Reliance purchased Faradion (a UK-based manufacturer of sodium-ion batteries) for 100 million pounds ($130million). Reliance will have access to the technology it needs to make batteries in India.

In a statement, Mukesh Ambani, a billionaire and owner of Reliance, stated that Lithium Werks, along with Faradion will allow us to accelerate the vision of India being at the center of global developments in battery chemistries.

Reliance will be able to offer a “high-performance supply chain”, he said, to Indian energy storage and EV markets.

India has offered incentives worth up to $6 billion for companies that build EVs or batteries in India as part of its effort to develop a local supply chain to clean energy and transport.

($1 = 0.7668 pounds)