Mahindra CEO Anish Shah says EVs to form 30% of product portfolio by 2030

Anish Shah, group CEO and MD at Mahindra. Bloomberg

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd aims to make more than a quarter of its portfolio electric by 2030 as India’s number two automobile company by market value takes on local and global rivals bolstering their EV line-up in the fast growing segment.

“For Mahindra, we plan to get to at least 20% to 30% adoption in the next three to five years,” Anish Shah, group chief executive officer and managing director at Mahindra said in a Bloomberg Television interview at Davos on Monday. Presently, electric vehicles account for 5% of the company’s offerings.

Shah’s comments come as the world’s most-populous nation is framing policies to woo global investors in the EV sector, betting on an eight-fold jump in green vehicles by the end of this decade.

He said Mahindra is beginning to see customers warm up to its EV models as the main issues of range anxiety — mileage per charge — and affordability have been addressed.

Shah’s company is fighting a long list of global and local automobile giants muscling in with new launches for a slice of the country’s nascent but rapidly-expanding EV market. They include local giants such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and Tata Motors Ltd. as well as Asian rivals including China’s BYD Co. and SAIC Motor Corp Ltd.

India, currently the world’s third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, is encouraging the use of electric vehicles as it aims to turn carbon net zero by 2070.

Tesla’s entry will help boost competition although Shah added the US carmaker would be competing in a different segment as and when it decides to roll out in India.

Referring to Donald Trump‘s return as the US president, Shah said Mahindra has been in the U.S. for more than 25 years and is not worried. “I would say positive,” he said when asked about the Trump impact on the Indian automaker.