Reliance Infrastructure is contemplating plans to manufacture electric cars and batteries and has engaged a former India executive at China's BYD Co to assist on its ambitions.

The firm, which is part of Anil Ambani's Reliance Group, has recruited external experts to do "cost feasibility" research on establishing an EV facility with an initial capacity of roughly 250,000 vehicles per year, which will be increased to 750,000 over time, according to the first source.

It is also considering the viability of developing a battery factory with a capacity of 10 gigawatt hours (GWh) and scaling up to 75 GWh over the next decade, according to the source.

Reliance Infrastructure did not react to a request for comment on its intentions, which are being disclosed for the first time. The company's shares, which had fallen 0.2% before the Reuters article, finished over 2% higher after it was published.

Former BYD executive Sanjay Gopalakrishnan, who has joined as a consultant to assist on the EV project, has not returned a request for comment.

Anil Ambani is the younger brother of Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest man and chairman of Reliance Industries, which has holdings in oil and gas, telecoms, and retail. The brothers divided the family company in 2005.

Mukesh's business is already striving to produce batteries locally, and it recently won a proposal to get government incentives for producing 10 GWh of battery cells.

If Anil's business proceeds with its intentions, the brothers would compete in a sector where electric vehicles have a limited presence but are rapidly expanding.

Electric vehicles accounted for fewer than 2% of the 4.2 million automobiles sold in India last year, but the government hopes to increase that to 30% by 2030. It has set aside more than $5 billion in incentives for local firms that manufacture EVs and their components, including batteries.

Battery manufacturing has yet to take off in India, although several local businesses, such as Exide and Amara Raja, have partnered with Chinese companies to develop technologies for manufacturing lithium-ion battery cells in the nation.

Reliance Infrastructure is also searching for partners, including Chinese corporations, and hopes to complete its plans within a few months, according to the first source.

Tata Motors is India's top EV player, with about 70% of the market, although competitors such as SAIC's MG Motor and BYD are gaining traction. Overall car industry leaders Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor want to introduce EVs in 2025.

Gopalakrishnan departed from BYD this year after more than two years in charge of the company's electric passenger car business in India, which included the launch of three EVs and the establishment of a dealer network.

According to government papers, Reliance Infrastructure established two new totally owned vehicle businesses in June.

One is Reliance EV Private Ltd, whose "main objective" is to "manufacture, deal, in vehicles of every description and components for transport and conveyance using any nature of fuel".

In recent years, Reliance Infrastructure has suffered from excessive debt and cash flow concerns. It's unclear how the EV initiative will be funded.