By the end of 2025, Rajesh Exports had put ₹262 crore into a battery business meant to build 5 GWh of cell capacity, according to a government disclosure cited by Mint. For comparison, Ola Electric’s exchange filings showed that the first phase of its plant, at 1.4 GWh, needed about ₹1,200 crore.
That gap now sits next to a 109-page ex-parte interim order from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Released on a Wednesday evening, the order alleges fund diversion, non-transparent related-party arrangements and disclosure deficiencies at two entities tied to the company’s lithium-ion cell business: Elest Pvt. Ltd and ACC Energy Storage Pvt. Ltd. These are allegations. The order is interim, and Sebi has said its examination of some transactions is ongoing.
The money between three companies
Elest was incorporated in October 2020 and is privately owned by the promoter. ACC Energy Storage, incorporated in July 2022, is the vehicle through which Rajesh Exports proposed to carry out its battery plans. Sebi’s order traces transfers among Rajesh Exports, Elest and ACC Energy.
Between April 2020 and December 2025, about ₹566 crore moved from Rajesh Exports to Elest, while Elest sent ₹350 crore back. Net outflow: ₹216 crore. Sebi noted that the company disclosed only ₹12.60 lakh of rental income from Elest in its FY 2024-25 annual report and “failed to disclose the aforesaid fund transfers as related-party transactions.”
The order also cites bank statements showing ₹147 crore going from Elest to ACC Energy, with ₹112 crore returned the same day. Rajesh Exports’ FY25 disclosure said ACC Energy invested ₹262 crore in Elest that year, but the order says details of valuation, stake and terms were not on record. It adds that the company’s managing director and chief financial officer were unaware of the Elest-ACC transactions.
Sebi is also looking at how Elest shares were valued. In November-December 2021, three foreign investors, Geraldton Finance Ltd, Aviator Global Fund and Knightsbridge Ltd, together bought roughly 3.3 million shares at ₹3,000 per share. By 31 March 2024, Rajesh Mehta held 90% of Elest, Rajesh Exports 6% and the three investors 4%. ACC Energy, once wholly owned by Rajesh Exports, dropped to 51% company ownership in 2025 when Elest took 49%.
Sebi’s preliminary conclusion was severe: routing company funds through “opaque and inadequately disclosed arrangements involving promoter-controlled entities” amounts to a “device, scheme and artifice to mislead investors.”
Revenue questions and the company’s reply
The wider order alleges that about 99.8% of revenue attributed to subsidiaries between FY21 and FY25, ₹15.15 trillion, was materially misrepresented. India Today reported that the order also directed a fresh forensic audit and restrained promoter-chairman Rajesh Mehta from accessing the securities market. Shares hit the 5% lower circuit for two consecutive sessions. Sebi said its forensic auditor had difficulty getting complete access to books, ERP systems and transaction-level data on overseas entities.
In an exchange filing on Thursday, the company said the order is interim and Sebi has reached no adverse conclusion. “The revenues declared by the company are correct and there is no overstating of revenues,” it said, adding that there appeared to be a communication gap and confusion. It said it was submitting all the documents required to clarify matters. Mint’s emailed questions to the company and the ministry of heavy industries drew no immediate response.
The questions did not start in 2026. India Today recalled that in 2014 the publication Moneylife noted employee costs of only around Rs 7 crore against annual revenue above Rs 31,000 crore. For the March 2026 quarter, the company reported revenue of Rs 2.36 lakh crore and a net loss of Rs 53.5 crore.
The battery scheme
Rajesh Exports was selected in March 2022 under the ₹18,100-crore production-linked incentive scheme for advanced chemistry cells (PLI ACC), committing to 5 GWh of local capacity. Last year it was among the beneficiaries penalized for missing production timelines, alongside Ola Electric and Reliance Industries. Ola has commissioned its plant in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, and Reliance is building in Jamnagar. Rajesh Exports has not revealed its full plans or whether it is still investing.
The Sebi order does not directly concern the PLI bidding process or the company’s eligibility. Still, experts said the government has room to act. Abhishek Saxena, a former Niti Aayog policy expert, said “there have been cases where the government has been able to remove firms due to any concern regarding governance or selection process.” The scheme’s bid rules say a bidder found to have misrepresented facts could forfeit its bid and performance securities and be barred from government tenders for two years.
Alekhya Datta of The Energy & Resources Institute suggested tighter oversight, including independent milestone audits and ring-fenced project accounts.
Sources
- Sebi order casts shadow on Rajesh Exports’ battery PLI project | Company Business News
- Before Sebi's Rs 15 lakh crore allegation, Rajesh Exports already faced scrutiny
