Chennai, July 8 (FN Agency) Bharat Alt Fuel (BAF) today announced an investmentof Rs 250 crore for setting up of a Greenfield facility in Krishnagiri district ofTamil Nadu to manufacture Electric Vehicles (EVs), batteries and motors.This integrated facility will be built over a land area of 40,000 sqmts andcommence the production in the second half of 2023.The investment will support a project that will span over three years andhelp localize the manufacturing process, as part of the hundred per cent‘Made-in-India’ pitch of the brand. The facility will have an initial production capacity of 25,000 units and willscale up to 100,000 EVs over the year, Sorubh Kumar Bharti, ExecutiveDirector, Bharat Alt Fuel told reporters here today. “BAF aspires to be a catalyst for change wherever it is needed, so it makesperfect sense that we are bringing electric two-wheelers to one of the world’slargest vehicle market”, he said. Along with the vehicle assembly, the new factory will be making all the criticalcomponents, including batteries and motors, he said, adding, establishing aglobal manufacturing footprint is a practical, natural step and enables us togrow our brand, scale our business, and address climate change throughinspiring sustainable transportation.”Construction of the plant is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2022-23and will be partially operational by 2023. He said initially, BAF will employ 1000 workforce and once the facility is fullyoperational it will have 3000 people which includes direct and indirect workforce.
Vehicles in the initial phase will be slated for the market in India, but BAF plansto export electric two-wheelers to other global markets like ASEAN and Africancountries. Bharti said “our investment at Tamil Nadu complements the virtuous cycle ofhi-tech R&D competencies, high-efficiency engineering capabilities and aglobal distribution network which should leapfrog us into a market-leadingposition in EVs in India and overseas.” “We will also put our efforts towards meeting the USD one trillion state economytarget set by Chief Minister MK Stalin”, he added. The new facility will be fully owned by BAF and enable the company to meet thegrowing domestic and international demand for electric vehicles. BAF is also in the process of signing some international tech collaborations whichwill enable the company to bring world class products in domestic markets.