Reva chief pitches for Rs 500 cr initial pvt-public fund

Reva Car Company founder Chetan Maini today pitched for Rs 500 crore initial private-public fund to help startups to support building e-vehicle hub in Karnataka.
"I think, Rs 500 crore initial private-public fund is good enough number to help startups to support building e-Vehicle hub in Karnataka, to begin with," he told PTI here.
In September, Karnataka became the first state to approve the electric vehicle and energy storage policy, which aims at promoting research and development in electric mobility and grow the sector.
It also seeks to create conducive environment for transition to electric vehicle environment from internal combustion engines.

Asked whether the Indian companies were good enough to compete with US-based electric car major Tesla, Maini said they would have an advantage over it because the cars manufactured by it were very costly and forms just around one per cent of the Indian market.
Indian manufacturers would have the advantage because they understand the Indian market better, he stated.
Global manufacturers, who are having base in India for a very long period, will also understand the dynamics of Indian markets, Maini said.
It was better for industry to have multiple-players as in the long run costs come down and society benefits, Maini said.