TOKYO, June 15 (Reuters) - Japan will give Toyota (7203.T) around 120 billion yen ($854 million) support towards the automaker's plan to invest in domestic production of the lithium ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EV), the Nikkei newspaper said.
The government help would also come as Japan and other U.S. allies increasingly look to secure supply chains away from China, which is a major player in EV batteries.
Japan's trade ministry has designated storage batteries, including car batteries, as critical to economic security and has earmarked 330 billion yen in its second supplementary budget to support their supply and development, the Nikkei said.
In Toyota's case the total amount of the project to be subsidised is seen reaching 330 billion yen, the newspaper said.
($1 = 140.4500 yen)Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
David Dolan, Hugh Lawson
Organizations:
Toyota, Nikkei, Thomson
Locations:
TOKYO, Japan, China