Telangana set to emerge hub for EVs: KTR

HYDERABAD: Mahindra Last Mile Mobility (LMM), a part of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) group, on Monday organised a ground-breaking ceremony for a manufacturing unit at its plant in Zaheerabad in the presence of industries minister K.T. Rama Rao, pursuant to their February announcement of Rs. 1,000 crore investment in the state.

At this facility, the company aims to build a state-of-the-art battery assembly line, producing power packs and manufacture electronic as well as drivetrain components for electric three- and four-wheelers. The facility will create employment for 800 to 1,000 locals, the company said.

Addressing the audience at the event, Rama Rao said, "We are committed to developing the right infrastructure and ecosystem for promotion and adoption of electric vehicles. The new facility will help in the proliferation of EVs not just in Telangana but across India."

Rao said that Telangana, one of the early adopters of the focused electric vehicles and energy storage solutions (EV-ESS) policy in 2020, is set to attract huge investments in the coming days.

He said India’s first new mobility focused cluster, the Telangana Mobility Valley (TMV), will make the state a competitive destination for automobile manufacturing, engineering and R&D. "With TMV, we want to attract Rs. 50,000 crore and generate more than four lakh jobs in the next five years," Rao said.

The state government is developing EV manufacturing clusters in Zaheerabad and Seetharampur, an energy storage system (ESS) cluster at Divitipalle in Mahbubnagar district and an innovation cluster at Yenkathala in Vikarabad district for the purpose.

Suman Mishra, CEO, Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, said, “Our LMM is in the forefront of India’s three-wheeler electrification journey.” Thanking the state government for its proactive approach and ease of doing business policies, under which Zaheerabad has been developed into one of the four mega EV manufacturing clusters, he said: “This facility will allow us to access state-of-the-art infrastructure available in the region.”