Lohia Group to enter auto sector

The group, which has set up a subsidiary - Lohia Auto Industries, will set up a greenfield manufacturing facility at Kashipur in Uttarakhand with an installed capacity of two lakh units per annum.     

"Recently central and various state government have taken initiatives to promote environment friendly vehicles. Keeping in mind this aspect and soaring fuel prices, we have decided to launch electric vehicles in the country," Lohia Auto Industries Vice-President Ayush Lohia said.     

He said the first lot of the electric two wheelers from the Lohia stable would hit the market by August followed by three wheelers in November.     

Lohia said the company would invest a total of Rs 150 crore for setting up the plant and marketing of products by 2009. The Noida-based Rs 400 crore group is currently involved in garment and handicrafts exports, steel and brass coil business and real estate.     

The two wheelers in below 250W category would be priced in the range of Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000, while the 500W-750W category bikes would be available between Rs 30,000-Rs 35,000, he added. The three-wheelers would cost in the range of Rs 45,000-Rs 50,000.     

Commenting on the production capacity of the company, he said out of the installed capacity of two lakh units per annum, about 1.5 lakh would be two-wheelers and the remaining would be only passenger three-wheelers. "The capacity is scalable up to 8-10 lakh in the future," he added.