Vikram Handa established Epsilon Group in 2010, a prominent industrial conglomerate dedicated to advancing the global carbon black and battery materials sector. With a mission to decarbonise economies and foster cleaner technologies, the group has distinguished itself through its subsidiaries, Epsilon Carbon and Epsilon Advanced Materials.

Under his stewardship, a state-of-the-art, fully integrated 320,000 TPA specialty carbon plant was inaugurated in 2017 in Bellary, Karnataka. The company later expanded into the Carbon Black segment, launching operations with a 115,000 TPA production capacity. This Integrated Carbon Complex boasts a 10 per cent lower carbon footprint than its global counterparts and operates as a zero water discharge facility. With aggressive expansion plans, Epsilon Carbon is poised to become India’s third-largest Carbon Black producer, targeting a 215,000 TPA capacity. The company’s next growth phase is driven by a Rs. 10,000 crore investment to establish an integrated carbon facility in Jharsuguda, Odisha.

In 2018, Mr. Handa founded Epsilon Advanced Materials Pvt Ltd. (EAMPL), marking the group's foray into the sustainable battery materials market for EVs, Energy Storage Systems (ESS), and electronics. The company envisions a vertically integrated manufacturing ecosystem for synthetic graphite anodes in India, striving to become the preferred supplier for global battery cell manufacturers. It successfully launched India’s first graphite customer qualification anode material facility in Bellary, Karnataka, with expansion plans to 100,000 TPA in India and an additional 100,000 TPA across North America and Europe by 2030.

More recently, the acquisition of a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material technology center in Moosburg, Germany, aligns with Handa’s vision of making Epsilon the first global company to supply both cathode and anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. In a candid conversation with him, we try and uncover the pros, cons and future outlook as envisioned by the coal tar pitch maestro.

AL Circle: What properties of high-end binder grade pitch make it suitable for use in the aluminium manufacturing process, and how is Epsilon looking into expansion in the Indian aluminium industry?

Vikram Handa: The binder pitch that we make is for the aluminium industry to make anode, which comprises 15 per cent binder pitch, and the other 85 per cent is Calcined Petroleum Coke (CPC). It is a mechanical process where everything is crushed, blended and then baked. When the anode is baked, it goes into the pot, both anode and cathode, where electrolysis happens. The strength of the anode depends on how long it lasts in the electrolysis process, which means it’s consumable and is defined by binder pitch properties.

The entire process is highly controlled because a lot of power is consumed, and the aim is to maximise the yield of aluminium. A high-end binder pitch is something that gives customers better yields. We have the means to make different grades of binder pitch, and we work closely with customers to do this. We supply the pitch to customers, which is then qualified for commercial scale. It takes somewhere around six to eight months to get the feedback. High-end binder pitch is essential to manufacturing premium aluminium products.

Let’s take other applications, like aerospace or space applications or very high-end metal installations where high-purity aluminium or a special aluminium alloy is needed. This is designed based on the pitch availability. Factors like a very low percentage of Zinc matter a lot in pitch to give better yields in aluminium.