Biliti Electric to build world’s largest electric three-wheeler plant in Telangana at $150 million

EV charging | Representative image

California-based Biliti Electric Inc is teaming up with Hyderabad-headquartered Gayam Motor Works (GMW) to set up the world’s largest electric three-wheeler production facility with a capacity of 240,000 vehicles a year, involving an investment of $150 million (approximately Rs 1,144 crore) in Telangana.

The largest investment in the electric vehicle manufacturing segment in Telangana would go into setting up the manufacturing facility over an area of 200 acres to be operational in two phases. The first phase with 18,000 vehicles a year would take off in early 2023 to reach the capacity of 240,000 vehicles by 2024, said the company, which produces products including the cargo model Taskman and passenger version Urban.

Biliti’s popular last-mile delivery vehicle Taskman is deployed in 15 countries across the globe including Japan, the USA, the UK, France, Portugal, Germany, Lebanon, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Nepal, Bangladesh, Dubai and India.

While large e-commerce players like Amazon, IKEA, Wasoko (Sokowatch), BigBasket (Tata), Zomato, Flipkart (Walmart) and Grofers are among entities that are using Taskman, the California-based automobile manufacturer currently has manufacturing and assembling plants in the US, Portugal, and Kenya.

In a statement on April 19, Biliti said it stands out in the market in its core technological innovations and its SmartSwaap technology allows the vehicle batteries to be swapped in less than a minute, overcoming the challenges of lack of charging infrastructure, unreliable electric grid, range and time pressure for delivery drivers.

“Our batteries and drivetrain are compact and modular in design, allowing them to have wider applications in auto, marine, warehousing, and backup power sectors enabling the buildout of an EV ecosystem,” said Biliti Electric’s chief executive officer Rahul Gayam.

Telangana industries minister KT Rama Rao said Biliti’s investment comes close on the heels of another California-based company Fisker announcing its second headquarters in Hyderabad. “The State is committed to promoting clean industries and promises to extend all benefits to the company admissible under the government’s policy,” said Rao, adding that the founders of Biliti were associated with Telangana government and spearheaded innovation intermediary and business incubator T-Hub through a previous start-up.