Tesla Battery Supplier Panasonic to Build $4 Billion EV Plant in Kansas, Aims to Create 4,000 Jobs

Japan's Panasonic Energy Co, a major Tesla Inc supplier, said on Wednesday it had selected Kansas as the site for a new battery plant that state officials said would create up to 4,000 jobs with investment of up to $4 billion (roughly Rs. 31,900 crore).

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Panasonic Energy, a unit of tech conglomerate Panasonic Holdings, selected Kansas over Oklahoma for the plant after Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly pushed the state legislature to approve an incentive package of up to $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,000 crore) earlier this year.

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The plant, to be built in De Soto, on the western fringe of Kansas City's metropolitan area, is central to the company's drive to ramp up output for electric vehicles as it pushes for gains in battery power and performance. The firm already has a Nevada factory that supplies Tesla.

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In a statement, the Kansas Department of Commerce said the state would reimburse Panasonic with estimated subsidies of $829 million (roughly Rs. 6,600 crore) after the company has completed investment and hiring.

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Kansas estimated $2.5 billion (roughly Rs. 20,000 crore) in annual economic activity from the plant that would offset the state's largest development subsidy package. State officials said the job creation and investment targets they announced were pending approval by Panasonic's board.

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A Panasonic spokesperson told Reuters no decisions had been made on the new plant's production capacity, investment amount and workforce size. By 2029, Panasonic plans to expand battery production capacity by three to four times, with most of the increase in North America.

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