Maharashtra’s EV Transition to Begin with Nearly ₹50 B Invt in E-bus Mfg

Maharashtra, the economic hotspot of India, is attracting significant investments from both domestic and international EV players. London-based Causis E-Mobility has commenced manufacturing work at its new EV plant in Pune’s Talegaon and Pinnacle Mobility Solutions is also about raise its first plant in Pune in coming months.

Causis E-Mobility has reportedly invested about Rs 2,800 crore in the Talegaon facility. The plant is spread over 75 acres and will manufacture new age electric buses.

Last October, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Causis, aiming to accelerate EV adoption in the state in line with the Maharashtra EV Policy 2021 that was unveiled in July. The Policy targets attracting investments and facilitating the establishment of production units and related equipments, such as batteries, by offering manufacturers lucrative incentives and subsidies.

The production capacity of the facility is about 1000 units and Causis looks to roll out buses by the first week of November this year. The manufacturing facility is expected to generate employment opportunities for about 1250 persons.

Under the first phase of the project, electric buses will be manufactured to have a range of around 250-300 km in one charge. In the second phase, the company plans to open its own gigafactory to manufacture and supply batteries.

Another EV player, Pune-based Pinnacle Mobility Solutions, has recently received approval for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme with regards to its Rs 2000 crore e-buses manufacturing project.

The industrial plans of Pinnacle are different from those of Causis. Pinnacle has planned to split its manufacturing between Pune (Maharashtra) and Pithampur (Madhya Pradesh). The company will build smaller assembly plants across the country; there will be no single mega plant at one particular place.

The plants’ construction is scheduled to commence in April 2022. For the first two years, the plants will function with investments of Rs 300 crore and Rs 600 crore respectively.