BII to make Rs 650 cr in final tranche of investment on M&M's EV arm

Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd on Monday said British International Investment Plc will make a final tranche investment of Rs 650 crore, as against earlier planned investment of Rs 725 crore, in its electric vehicles arm.

Earlier this year in May, the company had intimated that it and British International Investment Plc (BII) have mutually agreed to extend the timeframe for the final tranche of BII's planned investment of Rs 725 crore in Mahindra Electric Automobile Ltd (MEAL) and would jointly assess whether additional investment is required by December 31, 2024, M&M said in a regulatory filing.

In this connection, M&M said the company and BII have jointly assessed the funding requirement for MEAL on the basis of which it has been "mutually agreed that the final tranche of BII Group's (i.e. BII and/or BII India EV LLP) investment would be Rs 650 crore to be completed by March 31, 2025, as against earlier planned investment of Rs 725 crore".

"Consequently, the total investment by BII Group in MEAL would be Rs 1,850 crore resulting in BII Group having a shareholding in the range of 2.64 per cent to 4.58 per cent of the share capital of MEAL, on a fully diluted basis," the company said.

In November this year, M&M had unveiled two electric SUVs-- BE 6 and XEV 9e -- with deliveries expected to commence in the February-March period next year with entry-level variants priced at Rs 18.9 lakh and Rs 21.9 lakh, respectively (ex-showroom).

M&M has committed Rs 4,500 crore to the overall development, including the creation of production capacity, for the two new ground-up electric brands.

The investment is part of the Rs 16,000 crore capex the company has announced for the electric vehicle business between the FY22-27 cycle.

The Mumbai-based auto major is creating a production capacity of 90,000 units per annum at its Chakan-based plant for the two ground-up 'Born Electric' models.