Tata’s Battery Unit Turns to Own Tech for Making Lithium Cells

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(Bloomberg) — Tata Group’s battery unit is gearing up to make cells using its own technology for the first time as China’s tighter curbs spur the Indian conglomerate to seek self-sufficiency, according to people familiar with the matter. 

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The closely held Agratas Energy Storage Solutions Pvt. is building a pilot production line of lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, cells at its upcoming battery factory in Sanand in the western state of Gujarat in India, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the company’s internal decisions. 

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A team of Indian, South Korean and Chinese engineers will work on refining the manufacturing processes and validating the initial batch of LFP cells at this pilot line before commercial production kicks in, they added.

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The move is a deliberate pivot for Agratas after executives assessed that the chances of a technology deal with a Chinese firm are close to nil, the people said, given Beijing’s stringent restrictions on exports of critical manufacturing know-how. Several Indian firms, including Reliance Industries Ltd. and JSW Group, have are facing difficulties accessing the technology needed to make cells locally as existing licensing deals falter.

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Also read: China’s Control Over Tech Is Threatening India’s Manufacturing Dreams

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The change in strategy will add costs and time to the Tata unit’s ramp-up of LFP cells. In contrast, its effort to mass produce another type of cell — nickel manganese cobalt, or NMC — has been helped along by licensing mature technology from Japan’s Automotive Energy Supply Corp., a unit of Hong Kong-based Envision Energy International Ltd. That tie-up allowed Agratas to bypass the early-development stages for NMC cells — an advantage it doesn’t have as it develops LFP cells from scratch.

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An Agratas spokesperson did not comment on plans for a pilot production line and technology being developed for LFP cells.

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The company plans to manufacture both cell types at the Sanand factory, the people said. The company, which Tata at one point considered spinning off, is at the center of the coffee-to-cars conglomerate’s plan to create a domestic battery-making ecosystem.

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Grid-Scale Storage

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LFP batteries are cheaper but typically offer less range than their NMC counterparts. They are also better suited for use in stationary storage applications and will help Agratas tap the grid-scale battery energy storage market — a fast growing segment for India as the country chases ambitious renewable energy goals.

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Agratas is also investing more than $400 million in a research and development center in Bengaluru focused on LFP and lithium manganese iron phosphate battery technologies, Bloomberg reported in May.

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The India facility will begin producing NMC battery cells by early 2027, while Agratas’ factory in Somerset, England, is scheduled to start production by around the middle of next year, the people said. Those facilities will initially supply cells to Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd.’s UK-based unit, Jaguar Land Rover, for its upcoming Range Rover Electric SUV.

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