EKA Mobility to partner with Mitsui, VDL; plans joint investment Rs 850 cr

Electric vehicle maker EKA Mobility on Wednesday said it has entered into a partnership with Japan's Mitsui & Co., Ltd and VDL Groep of the Netherlands with a proposed joint investment of over USD 100 million (around Rs 850 crore) in phases.

Under the cooperation, EKA Mobility will receive significant and strategic investments from Mitsui and technological support and an equity partnership from VDL Groep, a leading Dutch technology firm, the company said in a statement.

It, however, did not elaborate on the financial details of the partnership.

"With a joint investment of over USD 100 million in phases, the cooperation will position India as the global manufacturing and sourcing hub for electric vehicles," the statement said.

EKA Mobility Founder & Chairman Sudhir Mehta said, this partnership represents a significant step toward making India a global hub for electric vehicle manufacturing.

Mitsui & Co India GM Mobility Business Division, Nobuyoshi Umezawa said, "Through the cooperation of EKA, VDL, and Mitsui, we aim to contribute to 'Make in India' by leveraging EKA's excellent engineering and local network, and VDL's cutting-edge technological capabilities."

Furthermore, Umezawa said, "We would like to utilise our Mitsui's global network to promote exporting EKA's competitive products to overseas markets and contribute to creating eco-friendly societies."

VDL Bus & Coach CEO, Rolf-Jan Zweep said,"Although the basis of our high-quality development and manufacturing competences lie in north-western Europe, we see many opportunities in India, which is obviously a promising growth market."

With this cooperation, Zweep said, "We foresee especially many synergy benefits in the areas of procurement and development."

EKA Mobility is one of the commercial vehicle manufacturers approved under the Champion Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Scheme & EV component manufacturing scheme of the government's Auto PLI policy.

It has an order book of more than 500 electric buses and over 5,000 electric light commercial vehicles.

All these vehicles will be completely designed and manufactured in India, at EKA's proposed manufacturing facilities in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, the company said.