Ravi Bajaj, the managing director of Bajaj Auto, has dropped some truth bombs. And they are bound to hurt some of the players in the two-wheeler EV market in India that has seen quite a few fire accidents and explosions in the recent times.
Questioning their underlying process of manufacturing, Ravi Bajaj said that the people who have no business to be in the business of EVs are trying to be in this space.
He was speaking at the inauguration of Bajaj Auto's wholly-owned subsidiary Chetak Technology's dedicated electric vehicle manufacturing facility at Akurdi (near Pune).
"The issue is not the fire itself. This (such incidents) happened in the vehicles with internal combustion engines as well. The issue is the underlying process of the manufacturing".
Ravi Bajaj bells the cat
It is true that one company chief taking a dig at his competitors is not exactly new. But Ravi Bajaj's words carry more than a ring of truth. And he has belled the proverbial cat. A man of his stature, and from within the industry, needed to speak out as the situation in the EV segment has dipped alarmingly. A few companies, with social media presence and VC funding, have been silencing the critics with their loud voices. But they can't silence someone like Ravi Bajaj.
His point about fly-by-night-operators getting into the market is spot on. But his insinuations against the government, and its lackadaisical approach in weeding out the bogus companies is also on the mark.
"What concerns me more is the environment that has promoted this mad whole rush. Why are people who have no business to be in the business of EVs trying to get into the business? This must be fixed. Maybe, if I can say so, the relevant authorities in the government have diluted norms for EVs," he said.
Meanwhile, the newly inaugurated EV manufacturing facility of Bajaj is spread over 6.5-acres of land, and has the capacity to turn out 5 lakh electric two-wheelers per year. It aims to cater to both domestic and export markets. Chetak Technology Ltd and its vendor partners will be investing nearly Rs 750 crore in this new EV manufacturing facility.
Bajaj brought back its iconic Chetak scooter in electric avatar in 2019. Akurdi is the site of the original Chetak scooter factory that made Bajaj Auto a household name in India. Bajaj currently produces around 1,000 units of the Chetak EV scooter a month.
The new facility has robotic and automated manufacturing technology, encompassing everything from logistics to material handling. Fabrication and painting too are to be done within the Akurdi plant, which at one time used to serve as the company's R&D center.
