Yokohama, Japan-headquartered AESC Group Ltd bought a 12% stake in Agratas Energy Storage Solutions Pvt. Ltd for ₹66 crore in March 2025. Tata Sons invested ₹484 crore for 88% stake, according to Agratas’s filings with the ministry of corporate affairs thatMinthas seen.
Alongside, Gordon Louis Chin, general counsel of AESC Group, which is owned by Chinese energy technology company Envision, was made a director on Agratas’s board. Tata Group chairman N. Chandrasekaran and P.B. Balaji—Tata Motors chief financial officer and soon-to-be chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover—are also on Agratas’s board.
This is the first time the Tatas have acknowledged the role of a Chinese-owned company in its battery business. It’s also the first time a new-age business of Tata group has attracted foreign investment and appointed a member to its board. Agratas has also secured more than ₹1,200 crore in investments from Tata Sons since its inception in 2023.
The deepening of ties between Agratas and AESC Group comes at a time when Indian automakers are facing the brunt of export restrictions imposed by China on rare earth magnets, which started in April.
Email queries sent to both companies remained unanswered till press time.
While Agratas has got AESC as an investor and on its board,Mintcould not independently ascertain if the two companies would collaborate on technology.
If it were to happen, though, it would benefit Agratas, believes Harshvardhan Sharma, group head for auto tech and innovation at Nomura Research Institute Consulting & Solutions India.
“For Indian companies like Agratas, this means immediate access to proven cell chemistries, manufacturing process IP, and yield optimization practices that typically take 5-7 years to build in-house,” Sharma said.
He added that Japanese battery makers like AESC have long-standing supply agreements with global OEMs and raw material miners, critical in a market where cathode-grade lithium carbonate prices have swung by over 200% in the past three years.
What is AESC?
AESC, which was founded in Japan in 2007 and is still based there, is now owned by Zhang Lei-led Envision. AESC was founded as a joint venture between Nissan Motor Company and NEC Corporation, which sold controlling stake to the Chinese company in 2018.
Currently, Lei heads the board of directors as the executive chairman while other members from Nissan and AESC are also present on the nine-member board.
AESC has 10 gigafactories that produce lithium ion batteries – four in China, two in the US, and one each in the UK, France, Japan and Spain.
“AESC is among the global top 10 EV battery producers, with over 12GWh of installed capacity today and an aggressive expansion plan…
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