Now that Mahindra & Mahindra has invested more than Rs 12,000 crore in its electric car industry, the company is seriously contemplating localizing batteries in the nation. Rajesh Jejurikar, ED and CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra Auto and Farm business, emphasized the company’s proactive approach and said that the potential of cell localization is under “very active consideration” at a media session that followed the Q4 FY24 earnings.
“We have already stated that we are actively investigating cell localization, and we are currently in discussion with that firm on this topic. Thus, it is very much up for discussion,” he continued.
Mahindra intends to launch seven new EVs, accounting for 20–30% of overall sales.
To power its range of electric vehicles, Mahindra has already teamed with many battery manufacturers, including Volkswagen, BYD, LG Chem, and Farasis. Although Jejurikar remained reticent on the cell localization partner, top officials of the Volkswagen Group have previously expressed their openness to localizing cells in India in addition to M&M.
Mahindra was one of the eighteen businesses that attended the pre-bid conference that was conducted recently to discuss the establishment of 10 GWh battery production facilities under the PLI Scheme. In this phase, sops valued at Rs 3,620 crore are being made available.