Bajaj was the first mainstream auto manufacturer to roll out an electric two-wheeler in India, and it is now scaling up its EV journey with the announcement of a new EV manufacturing unit at its Akurdi facility, just outside Pune.
An amount of Rs 300 crore is being invested into the unit by Bajaj, which will be supplemented by another Rs 250 crore investment from a number of vendors. The unit will be spread over approximately half a million sq. ft., and have an annual capacity of 5,00,000 EVs.
“In 2001, Bajaj 2.0 took off on the roaring Pulsar. In 2021, Bajaj 3.0 arrives on the charming Chetak," said Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto. "Going forward, for the Bajaj portfolio, except for implementing one state-of-the-art ICE platform that is currently under development, all our R&D drivetrain resources are now laser focused on creating EV solutions for the future. This alignment reflects our belief that light Electric Vehicles for sustainable urban mobility is an idea whose time may finally have come.”
Bajaj also mentions that the manufacturing systems being installed at the new unit have been designed for flexible product mix. This, along with Rajiv Bajaj’s statement, all but confirm that the company’s EV portfolio is expected to grow in the coming months and years. There seems to have been a sharp uptick in Bajaj’s commitment to electric mobility and the first signs of this have perhaps already been shown, with a more affordable Bajaj electric scooter already spotted testing recently.
Suraj Sreekumar
Vishal Venugopal
Stephen Raj Antony
Dinshaw Magol
