Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M Ltd) announced ₹10,000 crore investment over the next 7 to 8 years to set up a manufacturing plant for electric vehicles in Pune.

The facility will be used for the development, and production of Mahindra’s upcoming Born Electric Vehicles (BEVs). It will also include the e-SUVs under the brand XUV.

“We are delighted with this approval from the government of Maharashtra for setting up our EV manufacturing plant in Pune and investing in what has been our ‘home’ state for over 70 years. The government’s focus on ‘ease-of-doing-business’ and progressive policies, together with Mahindra’s investment, will act as a catalyst for Maharashtra to become India’s EV hub, attracting further Indian and Foreign Direct Investment,” said Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, Auto & Farm Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

businessline earlier reported that M&M is the market leader in the electric three-wheeler segment with a 7.9 per cent market share. But Tata Motors is a market leader in the electric passenger vehicle segment.

According to a BNP Paribas report on electric vehicle penetration, Tata Motors has a 76 per cent volume market share while MG Hector had an 18 per cent market share in the electric passenger vehicle segment. M&M is yet to make any significant dent into the overall EV market.

EV investment focus

According to analysts, Indian automobile companies are investing big in the electric vehicle space in order to be on the top

“Companies operating across automobile segments are investing in EVs to be at the forefront of the EV transition, supported by subsidies on capital investment offered by the Central government via FAME-2 and by various State governments in their EV policy,” said Pushan Sharma, Director, CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics.

Sharma added, “Two-wheelers and three-wheelers would be at the vanguard of EV penetration. For passenger vehicles, total cost of ownershipfor EVs is not favourable compared with ICE. Also FAME subsidy support is available only for commercial PVs which makes EVs less viable for the personal segment which comprises over 85 per cent of the sales.”

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