Lord’s Mark Industries Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based renewable energy products maker, is forming a joint venture with Kerala state-owned Kerala Automobiles Ltd to expand its electric vehicle business and foray into EV infrastructure.
Lords Automative, a subsidiary of Lord’s Mark Industries, will hold 74% stake in the joint venture company that will set up a manufacturing facility in Kannur with an annual capacity of 1.5 million electric vehicles, with Kerala Automobiles holding the rest 26%.
The two partners are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday.
The joint venture, KAL Lords Automative Vehicles Pvt Ltd, intends to produce electric bikes, three-wheelers and also get into swappable battery stations and charging infrastructure, said Sachidanand Upadhyay, founder of Lord’s Mark Industries.
“Over the next two years, the JV company will be investing Rs 200 crore in development of products and ecosystem,” he said. “Initially we need about Rs 20-30 crore… As we scale the business up, the business would demand about Rs 200 crore.”
The manufacturing facility is expected to go on stream by the end of 2022.
KAL Lords will roll out e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-three wheelers for both cargo and passenger segments in the coming few years. These products will range from low speed to high speed with a range of 80-130 km per charge.
The immediate focus is to cater to the rising need for EVs within Kerala and eventually expand pan India and then go overseas, officials said. It aims to cater to Eastern Europe and Africa export markets in the future.
KAL Lords has the potential to produce and sell about 40,000-50,000 electric vehicles within two years, they said.
It will undertake R&D activities to manufacture technologically advanced and energy-efficient EV products.
Founded in February of 2019, Lords Automative generated a revenue of Rs 22 crore at the end of FY-21. It sold about 4,500 electric vehicles.
The company already has a network of 300 dealers across the country, which will be expanded to 150-200 outlets with the formation of the new JV. These bases will be used as a swapping station for its customers, Upadhyay said.
