Ashok Leyland, one of India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, has announced plans to set up a greenfield battery pack manufacturing facility near Chennai with an investment of up to ₹500 crore. The new plant will focus on producing advanced lithium-ion battery packs for electric commercial vehicles, supporting the company’s rapid expansion in the electric mobility space.
The facility will be located in the Sriperumbudur Oragadam industrial corridor, a well-established automotive hub in Tamil Nadu. It is expected to have an initial annual capacity of around 1.2 GWh, with scope for future expansion as demand for electric buses, trucks, and light commercial vehicles grows. The plant will supply battery packs not only for Ashok Leyland’s own electric vehicle range but also potentially to other OEMs and energy storage applications.
The investment aligns with the company’s long-term strategy to become a full-spectrum electric mobility player. Ashok Leyland has already launched several electric models, including the Ecomet Star 1315 and the 9-meter electric bus, and is scaling up its EV portfolio under the Switch Mobility brand. Local battery production will help reduce costs, improve supply chain control, and accelerate localisation of critical EV components.
Speaking on the announcement, Ashok Leyland Managing Director and CEO Shenu Agarwal said the facility will strengthen the company’s vertical integration in electric vehicles and contribute to India’s net-zero ambitions. He added that the project will create several hundred skilled jobs and support the development of a robust local supplier ecosystem for battery materials and sub-assemblies.
The move comes as India pushes hard to build domestic capabilities in lithium-ion battery manufacturing under the National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage and the Production Linked Incentive scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cells. Ashok Leyland’s investment is seen as a significant step toward reducing reliance on imported battery packs and making electric commercial vehicles more competitive.
The plant is expected to commence operations in phases starting late 2027, with commercial production ramping up thereafter.
