In a crucial step towards its proposed electric car project, Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government, committing an investment of `7,614 crore for adding manufacturing units that will create employment for up to 3,111 people.
The project comprises an electric four-wheeler plant and an EV cell plant of 20GW battery manufacturing capacity, to be set up at SIPCOT Bargur in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu. The proposed four-wheeler plant will come up on 200 acres, while the cell plant will be spread across 100 acres. The existing two-wheeler plant is on 500 acres. Ola plans to debut its four-wheeler EV by 2024 with a range of around 500 km on a single charge.
Bhavish Aggarwal, founder & CEO, Ola, tweeted: “Ola will set up the world’s largest EV hub with integrated 2W, car and lithium cell gigafactories in Tamil Nadu.”
According to the Tamil Nadu government, Ola group companies Ola Cell Technologies and Ola Electric Technologies will set up the lithium ion cell plant and EV car plant, respectively.
Of the total investment, around `5,114 crore will go into the cell manufacturing plant and the remaining `2,500 crore will go into the four-wheeler manufacturing unit. The plan is to set up a unit to produce 140,000 electric four-wheelers per annum.
The company’s current facility in Hosur is considered to be one of the world’s largest electric two-wheeler manufacturing units and has seen investments of more than `2,400 crore.
Ola Electric had unveiled what it termed as India’s first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell in July 2022 and said will begin mass production of its cell, NMC 2170, from its upcoming gigafactory by 2023. The company by 2027 will have six different products in the market, including mass market scooter, mass market motorcycle, and multiple premium motorcycles like sports, cruisers, adventure and road bikes.
The company is in the process of setting of Ola Futurefoundry — its global centre for advanced engineering and vehicle design — which will be based in Coventry, the UK. Ola plans to invest over $100 million in the next five years into the state-of-the-art centre and staff it with over 200 designers and automotive engineers. The centre will also partner with world-class education and research institutions in the UK to collaborate on technology research and development.
Ola’s new investment comes close on the Tamil Nadu’s new EV policy showcasing the state’s commitment and support for the EV sector. The benefits under the Tamil Nadu Electric Vehicles Policy 2023 for manufacturers include 100% reimbursement of state goods and services tax (SGST), investment or turnover-based subsidy and advanced chemistry cell subsidy.
According to the policy, the state will provide a 100% exemption on electricity tax for five years on power purchased from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, exemption on stamp duty and also subsidy on cost of land, among others.
