Ola lines up Rs 7,614 crore for making electric cars in Tamil Nadu

SoftBank Group-backed Ola Electric plans to invest Rs 7,614 crore in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district to manufacture electric cars and batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), a state government statement said on Saturday.

“Ola will set up the world’s largest EV hub with integrated two-wheeler, car and lithium cell gigafactories in Tamil Nadu. Signed an MoU with Tamil Nadu today,” said Ola Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal in a Twitter post.

The company plans to make 140,000 cars a year and hire over 3,100 workers in Tamil Nadu through the new investment. Ola already manufactures e-two wheelers in the state. The company plans to roll out an electric car with a range of around 500km on a single charge.

Out of the total investment, around Rs 5,114 crore will be allocated to the cell manufacturing plant and the remaining Rs 2,500 crore will go into the four-wheeler manufacturing unit. The company had announced that it was planning to come out with cars by 2024.

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 Rs 2,400 crore.

The fresh investment will be part of Ola Electric’s expansion plans at its unit in Pochampalli. The would also give a big push to Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri (HKD) region as a hub for electric vehicles and ancillary units. Other than Ola, Ather and TVS Motor are also manufacturing their EVs from factories near Hosur.

Tamil Nadu, which accounts for nearly a third of India’s automotive exports, is offering various concessions to boost EV manufacturing such as waiving road tax, registration charges and permit fees for EVs, according to a new policy unveiled this week.