Gensol Engineering Ltd, an Ahmedabad-based renewable energy solution provider, has sold a 10 per cent stake to a pool of Indian and international investors for Rs 140 crore.
The company will deploy the raised amount to set up an electric vehicle manufacturing unit at Chakan, Pune, and to grow its solar EPC business.
“With this funding, Gensol plans to accelerate delivery of a robust domestically manufactured EV in India and also expand its solar EPC business,” Anmol Singh Jaggi, Managing Director, Gensol told Moneycontrol.
The company plans to make cars at the Chakan Industrial zone at Pune, Maharsahtra from next year.
“We are targeting to start production at Pune facility during the first quarter of 2023 with a capacity of 14,400 cars a year initially and give deliveries from January 2024. We will also hire at least 150 automobile engineers and designers for this venture and invest Rs 250-400 crore in multiple phases,” Jaggi said.
Jaggi has earlier exclusively told Moneycontrol that Gensol plans to introduce an electric car for the masses to take on WagonR that will cost between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6 lakh, with a maximum range of up to 200 km, speed of 95+ km per hour and charging time of three hours.
He now said that the e-car will also be equipped with remote access, geo-fencing, 4G Cloud connectivity, an air-conditioned/heated cabin, and offer AI-powered insights and over-the-air updates.
Gensol will also launch a cargo version of the model around the same timeline. The urban cargo vehicle, with a range of 140 km, a full payload of 800 kg and a three-hour charging time, will be priced at Rs 5-6 lakh.
Electric cars in India
The electric car market in India is hotting up with several companies lining up models.
Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric is gearing up to roll out its maiden car, which will give a range of 500 km on a single charge. However, the Ola e-car is being positioned as a premium product and may be retailed at Rs 25-30 lakh.
At present, the cheapest electric car on Indian roads is Tata Tigor, which costs at least Rs 12.4 lakh. MG Motor India has recently announced that it is rolling out a Rs 10-12 lakh EV, while Hyundai is also said to be working on an affordable electric car. The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV, which is sold in China and priced at $4,200 (approximately Rs 3.15 lakh), is one of the cheapest e-cars in the world. However, it is not officially confirmed if the same model will be sold here in India by MG Motor India (owned by SAIC Group) as Rs 10-12 lakh electric car.
Acquisition of US EV start-up
Gensol had recently informed the BSE that it has signed a term sheet to buy a majority stake in a US-based EV startup and acquire technical and business know-how, patents, trademarks and brand name. However, it did not reveal the name of the US company or the price it paid for the acquisition.
At 1:11 pm, the shares of Gensol Engineering were trading 5 percent higher at Rs. 1404.10 apiece on the BSE.
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