Very briefly what has been the progress of electric
two wheelers sales for your company? Are number picking up because of the odd
subsidies that are being given, or is the market still heavily skewed towards
products with IC engines?
EV industry
in India is still not doing well if we talk about its share in two wheeler
category. Last year the Central Government announced subsidies on electric
vehicles under FAME scheme with a proper execution plan including
infrastructure development, technology upgradation, pilot projects etc. Consumers awareness and benefit of electric vehicles are
still not known and the government has to create charging Infrastructure
to promote these vehicles.
Your company has a manufacturing unit based out of
Kashipur, Uttrakhand with capacity to produce 100000 units/Year of 2
Wheeler & 3 Wheeler. What are capacity utilisation levels at present and
what is the ratio of scooter to 3-wheeler production?
The combined
manufacturing capacity of this plant is 1 lakh vehicle annually. Lohia has
undertaken an investment of Rs 50 Crore in creating this facility and it intend
to invest 10 crore in next 2 years. Till last year we hardly used 5% of total
capacity but now we are geared up with new models of electric 2w, electric 3W
and UM bikes, production of which has already started. Also now our focus is to
increase its market penetration and create all India dealer network. We plan to
have more than 150 dealerships in this financial year which will increase our
revenue and help to utilise our production capacity at optimum level. In
current scenario 60: 40 is the production
ratio of 2w to 3w.
What are the chances of bringing in electric
motorcycles in the country?
Our R&D
is continuously working in developing new products and in pipeline are
high speed electric scooter and bikes. These bikes will be futuristic with
attractive looks and will be easy to maintain.
In terms of technology, have electric two wheelers
come of age or is the technology still evolving big time?
There is huge potential for EVs in India in the coming
future. But the cost of lithium ion battery is still a
challenge for electric vehicles as we are currently importing it from China and
other markets. Charging infrastructure is still missing in India.
Are you satisfied with the government efforts to
popularise electric vehicles? Or are there are areas which still need to be
looked into?
Both central and state governments are encouraging Electric
Vehicles and recognising that in future India need not depend on fossil fuel
imports. We see a strong growth on the back of central government support in
electric scooter business. By 2020, the central government plans to spend Rs 14,000
crore in developing the EV industry.
Electric vehicles are almost 1.5 times the cost of gasoline
vehicles and State government levies like VAT, RTO etc nullify the benefit of
central government subsidy, Consumers awareness and benefit of electric
vehicles are still not known and the government has to create a charging
infrastructure to promote these vehicles.
You are doing assembly operations for UM Motorcycle
through a JV with it? Have the assembly operations begun? Is it at the same
site? What is the capacity of this plant?
Yes, UM bikes
are being rolled out from our Kashipur plant only. The production of UM bikes has
already started with initial capacity of 20,000 units a year and Lohia Auto
will take this capacity up to 40,000 units in next two years.