The Tata group and the Gujarat government inked an outline agreement for the construction of a lithium-ion cell facility with an estimated investment of Rs 13,000 crore ($1.6 billion). India is making the move in an effort to build its own electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.
The decision to build the EV battery plant in Sanand, Gujarat, was made earlier this week at a Tata Sons board meeting, according to persons familiar with the situation.
Tata Motors already has a plant operational at Sanand, and has also acquired the adjoining Ford Motors’ plant. The process of integration of the two plants has begun and may take up to one year to complete.
A joint statement on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Tata’s unit Agratas Energy Storage Solutions and the Gujarat government said that work on the plant was expected to start in less than three years. It would have an initial manufacturing capacity of 20 Gigawatt hours (GWh), which could be doubled in a second phase of expansion, the statement said.
