Epsilon Advanced Materials Pvt. Ltd., an India-based battery materials manufacturer, announced it will delay breaking ground on its approximately $650M factory in coastal North Carolina, according to the Triangle Business Journal.

Epsilon said construction for the planned plant at the Mid-Atlantic Industrial Rail Park megasite in Brunswick County will begin in late 2026. The company previously said it had planned to break ground early this year.

This is the second substantial delay for the project. Originally, the Mumbai-based company had envisioned the start of construction in 2024, according to the report. The plant is slated to make core components for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

CEO Sunit Kapur said in an emailed statement to WilmingtonBiz the Mumbai-based company was seeking clarity about the federal government’s policy shifts during the second Trump administration. In the statement, Kapur mentioned the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in July 2025, which ended federal tax credits for new and used electric vehicles.

Kapur also said the company was seeking clarity in the EV marketplace before beginning construction. EV sales in Q4 2025 were reportedly the lowest they’ve been since 2022. New EVs dropped in the U.S. in the fourth quarter to 234K units, down 46% from Q3.

Another EV company with planned projects in North Carolina, Vietnam-based VinFast, said it won't be operational at its Chatham County plant until 2028. It originally had been slated to open in 2024, TBJ reported.

When plans for the Epsilon plant in Brunswick County were first announced in 2023, the North Carolina Department of Commerce approved a 12-year, performance-based job development investment grant of $3.44M.

The state has not made any payments through the grant because Epsilon has not yet hit its target of creating 500 jobs. The company still must hire a minimum of 293 positions this year to meet its target and receive incentive payments, TBJ reported.