- Presently, the electric scooter is produced at the company’s Chakan plant, a unit that typically operates at near-100 per cent capacity utilisation round the year
- Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad are among the key locations that are being evaluated by the company to set up the said manufacturing unit
As per a report by Livemint, Bajaj Auto Ltd is planning to set up a dedicated production plant for its electric scooter Chetak. The report said that in an interview to CNBC-TV18, Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto said that the company is planning to ramp up production capacity for Chetak. He added that it is mulling to set up a dedicated manufacturing unit with an annual capacity of half a million units for the same.
The report added that presently, the electric scooter is produced at the company’s Chakan plant, a unit that typically operates at near-100 per cent capacity utilisation round the year. Bajaj added that Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad are among the key locations that are being evaluated by the company to set up the said manufacturing unit. He also said that he finds the recently released electric vehicle (EV) policies by Delhi, Telangana and Karnataka encouraging.
Purchase incentive of ₹5,000 per kWh of battery capacity
The Delhi EV Policy 2020 aims to drive adoption of battery electric vehicles or EVs in order to contribute to 25 per cent of new vehicle registrations by 2024 in the national capital. It also offers waiver of road tax and registration fees and a purchase incentive of ₹5,000 per kWh of battery capacity, subject to a maximum incentive of ₹30,000 per vehicle, for electric two-wheelers.
The Telengana state government is also offering incentives to the EV manufacturers including facilitating land for setting up production units. It plans to convert 80 per cent of all new two and three wheelers sold into EVs by 2025. The Karnataka state government has proposed to offer a 20 per cent subsidy to companies to install EV charging stations.