Motovolt Mobility plans to invest Rs 200 crore next year for expansion

Electric two-wheeler maker Motovolt Mobility on Tuesday said it plans to invest Rs 200 crore next year on new products and to expand its manufacturing footprint and sales network.

The company, which on Tuesday launched its electric bike URBN in two variants priced at Rs 49,999 and Rs 54,999, is looking to set up satellite manufacturing units to be closer to the market.

"We have a plant at Kolkata now. We are looking to set up satellite manufacturing units in North and South India so that we can be closer to the market," Motovolt Mobility Founder and CEO Tushar Choudhary told PTI here.

The Kolkata plant has an annual capacity of 50,000 units.

"In the next phase, we are looking at capacity of one lakh annually for which we are considering a new unit, preferably in North India as Delhi is an attractive market for us considering the incentive we are getting for the URBN e-bike," he added.

The company is targeting sales of 50,000 units by March 2023, he added.

When asked about investment, Choudhary said, "Next year in 2023, we will be investing Rs 200 crore. This will take care of new production unit, more products besides sales network expansion and marketing activities."

The company has already invested Rs 60 crore.

Motovolt plans to launch an electric scooter in the last quarter of the ongoing fiscal year, while it is also developing new products in the e-bike segment.

"Our focus is on electric two-wheelers. We want to offer a full range from electric bicycles to scooters," Choudhary said, adding, the company has not planned any electric motorcycle.

In terms of sales network, the company plans to increase it to 250 by the end of 2022-23 from 100 at present.

On URBN, he said it offers an easy ride for local commutes, and has a good potential for last-mile delivery services as it can go up to 120 kilometres on a single charge.

Choudhary said the company has started discussions with online food delivery platforms to supply to their fleet.

At present, the localisation level of URBN is around 70 per cent with key components like battery cells imported from China.

"In due course of time, we intend to source the battery cells from India when they are available here," he said, adding, the product has been designed and developed in India over the last two years with 50,000 kilometres of testing.

He said the company has also received interest from overseas customers, who were buying from China and Taiwan as they look to have an Indian source and Motovolt could enter into a joint venture with a foreign player in future.