India's largest E2W manufacturer Hero Electric is surging ahead with grand plans to expand its manufacturing base in the country. Last week, the company signed a MoU with the government of Rajasthan to set up our 'mega' EV manufacturing hub in the state, with an annual production capacity of two million units.
The greenfield manufacturing facility, with a reported investment of about ₹ 1,200 crores, is to be set up in the Salarpur industrial region spreading over 170 acres. The plant is expected to be operational by mid-next year.
"With this, we are not only fostering mass adoption of EVs in the country but also driving mass manufacturing at home. The facility will be outfitted with cutting-edge machinery, robots, and inventive technology, and will make use of clean, renewable energy sources", said Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero Electric.
He observed that the demand for Hero's e-scooters is robust, with substantial waiting-list and supply chain challenges being resolved. "We want to be ready with capacity, as adoption to EVs gains momentum. The market, I believe, is going to move much faster than anyone could imagine. The awareness is growing, the cost of operation is lower", he added.
Hero Electric expects to achieve a manufacturing capacity of about 5 million E2Ws per year by 2025. Apart from newly announced facility, the company's yet another manufacturing line in Ludhiana is expected to go onstream in the next six months, boasting a capacity of 250,000 units.
Further, Hero has already started rolling out e-scooters from Mahindra's Pithampur facility, which will add another 250,000 unit annual capacity to the brand in the coming years.
Although the brand is popular for its low-speed e-scooters in the Indian market, Hero is jacking up its product portfolio with high-speed, long-range scooters to target buyers in the budget segment. The company also claims to strength its service centres and charging points across the country to aid its customers.
Read More