The European Commission said the project would help develop the region and create jobs, outweighing any possible distortion of competition.

The plant will make lithium-ion battery cells and battery modules for electric vehicles. SK Innovation which announced the project in January last year, supplies electric car batteries to Volkswagen, Ford Motor Co, Hyundai Motor Co and others.

($1 = 0.9098 euros)

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)