In an endeavor to foray into the automotive and transportation industry, Adani Enterprises is reportedly planning to construct an electric buses manufacturing facility in its special economic zone (SEZ) at Mundra in Gujarat. As per reliable sources, the Ahmedabad headquartered multinational conglomerate, of late, has been aiming for a technology tie-up with an electric bus manufacturer from Taiwan.
Sources familiar with the latest developments claim that the firm plans to construct a manufacturing plant at its Mundra SEZ and aims to offer electric buses to the Indian and export markets which includes the Middle East and Africa. Moreover, the firm has also been examining closely the battery swapping model, claim reliable sources.
For the record, the India automotive and transportation market’s electric buses segment currently consists of limited companies with only Mahindra & Mahindra, JBM Group, Ashok Leyland, and Tata Motors operating in the business. Industry experts claim that the foreign automobile manufacturers have turned their attention towards India electric vehicles market with the recent instance of Chinese automotive giant, BYD, teaming up with Hyderabad based Goldstone Infratech.
With an aim to promote electric/hybrid vehicles and a Manufacturing eco-system in the nation, the Indian Government had unveiled the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme in 2015. The scheme provides several incentives to manufacturers of electric vehicles for public transport, charging infrastructure developers, and battery manufacturers. As per reliable sources, the government is currently working on the second phase of the FAME scheme.
Under the draft FAME-II policy, the government plans to offer incentives for procuring bulk batteries for a fleet of above 50 electric vehicles and offers support for purchasing EVs by agencies such as EESL, cite sources. Additionally, the policy aims to extend subsidy assistance of INR 2,500 crore to the electric buses segment over the next three years.