Hyundai Motor Focuses on India... Joint Battery Research with Indian Institute of Technology

Hyundai Motor Group is partnering with India's top engineering institutes to establish a joint research system in the battery and electrification fields.

On the 3rd (local time), Hyundai Motor Company and Kia announced that they signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly establish the 'Hyundai Innovation Center' with the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT).

IIT, founded in 1951, is India's premier engineering education institution operating 23 campuses nationwide. Three universities?▲IIT Delhi ▲IIT Bombay ▲IIT Madras?will participate in this joint research. Hyundai Motor Company and Kia plan to establish the Hyundai Innovation Center with them and invest approximately 10 billion KRW over five years starting in 2025 to jointly conduct research related to batteries and electrification. They also plan to expand cooperation into software and hydrogen fuel cells.

The Hyundai Innovation Center is an industry-academia cooperation model specialized for the Indian market. It is based on the Innovation Center (CoE), a specialized research organization within IIT universities operated through corporate and alumni sponsorship. Currently, 22 CoEs are operating at IIT Delhi alone.

This collaboration differs from the previous industry-academia approach, which focused on one-off technical projects. It was promoted to strengthen research and development capabilities through continuous cooperation and accelerate technological innovation based on local demand.

The goal is to secure 'super-gap' technologies in the battery and electrification fields. Additionally, by soliciting new research ideas from young faculty members, they plan to discover technologies and functions specialized for the local market and build a core future technology research network within India.

In particular, they intend to closely cooperate with 'CART,' India's only electric vehicle research institute located at IIT Delhi, contributing to the establishment of an electric vehicle ecosystem in India linked to the country's electric vehicle promotion policies. Furthermore, they plan to regularly operate technology exchange meetings between Korean and Indian experts in the battery and electrification fields and run special lectures and training programs to foster mid- to long-term talent development.

Sung Nak-seop, Executive Vice President of R&D Planning and Coordination at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, stated, "Hyundai Motor Company and Kia will lead advanced technologies in the battery and electrification fields by growing together based on mutual cooperation with Indian academia."

This investment aligns with Hyundai Motor Group's long-term strategy. It reinvests funds raised through the recent initial public offering (IPO) of Hyundai Motor India. Hyundai Motor Company and Kia plan to establish a local development completion system centered on the India Technology Research Institute, positioning India as a global small car development hub and strengthening their status as a key mobility company in India. Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun also stated at the local stock market listing ceremony of Hyundai Motor India last October, "Based on the spirit of cooperation and mutual growth, we will continue our commitment to localization."

On the 3rd (local time), Hyundai Motor Company and Kia signed a business agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to jointly establish the "Hyundai Innovation Center."

From the left: Jaewan Ryu, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor India's Regional Planning Office; Geunhan Lee, Executive Director of the India Technology Research Institute; Nakseop Seong, Senior Executive Director of the Research and Development Planning Coordination Office; Rangan Banerjee, President of IIT Delhi; Sachin C. Patwardhan, Dean of IIT Bombay; Manu Santhanam, Dean of IIT Madras; Preeti Ranjan Panda, Dean of IIT Delhi. Provided by Hyundai Motor Company.

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