Tata Motors Sees Surge in Electric Commercial Vehicle Orders, Reliant on China for Batteries

Tata Motors stated that as Chinese battery cell supplies gradually recover, its production and delivery capabilities for electric commercial vehicles will further improve. Girish Wagh, Executive Director and CEO of the company, noted strong current demand for electric commercial vehicles, with over 3,400 orders secured in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. This includes approximately 3,200 electric light commercial vehicles—a more than fourfold year-on-year increase—and over 850 electric bus orders. Data shows that in 2025, India imported 18,200 metric tons of lithium compounds valued at $1.2 billion, of which 68% came from China. A report by Indian think tank ORF indicated that China fulfills over 85% of India’s lithium-ion battery import requirements. In the first ten months of 2025, India imported $3.3 billion worth of lithium-ion batteries from China, accounting for 79% of its total imports. In fiscal year 2026, 84% of India’s lithium-ion cell imports originated from China, with dependence on Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets ranging between 85% and 90%. To reduce external dependency, Agratas, a subsidiary of the Tata Group, is advancing domestic cell manufacturing. It is setting up a pilot production line at its Sanand facility in Gujarat to develop LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cell technology and plans to establish an NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) cell production line, with commercial-scale mass production expected to begin in early 2027. The related investment is estimated at approximately $1.6 billion. Agratas also operates a battery plant in Somerset, UK. Additionally, Indian conglomerate Reliance previously attempted to build local battery capacity by introducing Chinese battery technology, but the effort stalled due to unsuccessful technology collaboration.