The company has also been selected to avail benefits under the government’s production linked incentive or PLI scheme
Pune-based Pinnacle Mobility Solutions is investing Rs 2,000 crore to enter the EV market. In light of this, Pinnacle Mobility has entered into a 74:26 partnership with Europe’ s VDL Group.
The company will set up a 5,000-unit electric bus manufacturing facility in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, and a 15,000-unit plant for e-mini vehicles in the 1-2 tonne space in Pune and begin by making electric buses and e-mini trucks.
The company will be hiring about 1,000 people across two locations. It will make a range of 9-12 metre electric buses and 1-2 tonne mini-trucks over the next two years.
For the first 18 months, Mehta said the focus will be on the Indian market. However, over the next three to four years, the company intends to expand into Sri Lanka, the Middle East, South East Asia and Africa to build scale and cater to growing needs globally.
It already has a long-standing partnership with VDL on the engineering front for the last six years.
The company has also been selected to avail benefits under the government’s production linked incentive or PLI scheme.
Additonally, the company said that there is a tender of 5,000 electric buses by CESL, which will have to be delivered in the next few years and Pinnacle will be participating in that exercise.
Sudhir Mehta, Chairman of Pinnacle Mobility Solutions, told ET that electric vehicles will be among India’s single biggest industries by size. Pinnacle started working on a grounds up solution with a unique lego concept that can be adapted to smaller set ups that don’t need large investments. The complete product range is developed in India with several patents already obtained and in process, Mehta said.
“Our intention is to participate in democratizing EVs in the country. One has to develop products that are innovative and affordable, without subsidy,” Mehta said. “One doesn’t need large factories to cater to the market; our lego set-up can be adapted in smaller settings. We will be coming out with a range of products and may partner local STUs to build scale at low cost.”
