Ashok Leyland is set to invest in the manufacturing of batteries in India.

Ashok Leyland, which is one of the flagship companies coming under the Hinduja Group will be focussing on the development and production of next-generation batteries tailored for automotive as well as non-automotive solutions, including energy storage systems. 

Ashok Leyland is now into strong alliances with CALB group, which is an exclusive battery technology company situated in China. These partnership agreements were signed by Managing Director & CEO, Ashok Leyland, and CEO of CALB (HK) Co., Ltd, in the presence of the President, Shom Hinduja, Alternative Energy and Sustainability Initiatives, Hinduja Group.

The company will be investing in battery manufacturing in India and will be fulfilling the prescribed requirements of Ashok Leyland and Switch Mobility’s EV portfolio and will also manufacture batteries for other automotive sectors followed by the energy storage sector. This budget allocation for this investment will be over Rs 5,000 Crores over the period of 7-10 years.

The Chairman of Ashok Leyland, Mr. Dheeraj Hinduja articulated his perspective on this, saying, "Ashok Leyland is pioneering innovation and will be instrumental in defining the future of electric mobility in India, as envisioned by the Government.

Our long term partnership with CALB will play a pivotal role towards local manufacturing of batteries in India, which will indirectly promote EV adoption in India at a massive scale and reduce the dependence on ICE powertrains.”

The Managing Director & CEO of Ashok Leyland, Mr. Shenu Agarwal articulated his opinion on this topic, mentioning, "Initially, our new battery business will concentrate exclusively on addressing the demands of the automotive sector, and later, we will expand our focus to include non-automotive sectors, which encompass energy storage systems.

We will be also creating a Global Center of Excellence which will be playing an important role in research and development, thus inducing innovations in battery manufacturing, recycling, battery management systems, and high-tech manufacturing procedures.”

Additionally, it will emphasize the development of electric vehicles, mobility services, charging infrastructure, along with financing and leasing options for vehicles.