Toyota, Nissan to expand Japan's battery production capacity, Nikkei reports

(Reuters) -Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and other companies will help expand Japanese production capacity for storage batteries by around 50% with government support through a total investment of 1 trillion yen ($6.97 billion), the Nikkei reported on Friday.

The investments will be mainly directed to automotive batteries and lift capacity to 120 gigawatt-hours (GWh) from 80 GWh, said the Nikkei.

According to the report, Japan's Toyota and Nissan are expected to invest about 250 billion yen and 150 billion yen, respectively, while electronics products maker Panasonic Holdings will invest about 550 billion yen.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry aims to reach 150 GWh of capacity by 2030, and is expected to announce up to 350 billion yen in aid for the effort soon. It will also provide aid for the production of battery components and manufacturing equipment, the Nikkei reported.

($1 = 143.4000 yen)

(Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shinjini Ganguli)