Switch Mobility plans to invest INR 1,000 crore in a dedicated EV plant
Switch Mobility, EV arm of Ashoka Leyland plans to build a separate EV plant, probably in southern India in order to assemble LCVs, buses, and battery packs under one roof.
Apparently, Switch Mobility, the electric vehicle arm of Ashok Leyland, will invest INR 1,000 crore in an electric vehicle plant in South India. The plant is likely to be in Tamil Nadu, around Chennai.
Ashok Leyland is planning to build a capacity of 30,000 electric light commercial vehicles and 10,000 electric buses that will help meet the growing demand for EV for last-mile goods transport and public transportation.
Switch Mobility’s CEO Mahesh Babu said that the company has secured 600 orders for electric buses in the first year. Moreover, he stated that the group was looking forward to selling 5,000 buses or 15,000 small commercial vehicles over the next three to five years through its EV arm generating revenues of around a billion dollars.
According to Mahesh Babu, the company has actively participated in tenders of over 7,000 buses. In FY23, the company aims to deliver more than 500 buses and plans to grow this number tenfold within three to five years, he stated further.
New orders are generating momentum, private operators are also showing interest in addition to the CESL and BEST orders. A healthy growth delivery is on the cards for the business, he noted.
The company currently assembles its buses at their Ennore facility. However, Switch plans to move to a separate plant with a dedicated channel for its LCVs, buses and battery packs – all to be assembled under one roof at the EV plant.
All parts of the electric bus, with the exception of the cells, are manufactured locally. This reduces the risk associated with a global supply chain. To further boost the use of local content, Switch has already begun discussions with cell manufacturers who won bids under the production-linked incentive scheme to source cells from within the country. Local content will be over 60% in the buses that Switch will produce, Babu noted.
Currently, Switch Mobility and its e-mobility-as-a-service unit Ohm Global are negotiating with investors to raise funds for its EVs in the range of $250-300 million (combined). The funding is expected to be finalized in a few weeks that is aimed to help meet the future needs of the company.
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