Bajaj Auto Announces New EV Production Facility in Pune

• Published On: 30 December 2021
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The company will invest USD 40 Mn (nearly Rs 300 Crores) in this manufacturing unit

Bajaj Auto has announced a new electric vehicle (EV) production facility at Akurdi in Pune. The company will invest USD 40 Mn (nearly Rs 300 Crores) in this manufacturing unit while it will have an annual capacity of wheeling out 5 Lakh electric vehicles. The first vehicle from this plant is expected to roll out in June 2022. This new EV plant will generate incremental employment for around 800 people. For those asking, Akurdi in Pune is also the production site of the original Chetak scooter.

The company stated that the new production facility will have cutting-edge robotic and automated manufacturing systems for everything including logistics and material handling, fabrication and painting, assembly and quality assurance. Spread over half a million sq. feet, it is co-located with Bajaj Auto’s state-of-the-art R&D centre to foster greater collaboration, leading to faster time-to-market. It should transform Bajaj Auto’s Akurdi facility into a hub for design, development and manufacturing of a complete range of Electric Vehicles. In addition, the investment announced by the brand will be supplemented by a number of vendors, who will invest a further Rs 250 Crores (USD 33 Mn).  

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Speaking about the new unit, Mr Rajiv Bajaj – Managing Director, Bajaj Auto Ltd. said, “In 2001 Bajaj 2.0 took off on the roaring Pulsar, in 2021 Bajaj 3.0 arrives on the charming Chetak. Going forward, for the Bajaj portfolio, except for implementing one state-of-the-art ICE platform that is currently under development, all our R&D drivetrain resources are now laser focused on creating EV solutions for the future. This alignment reflects our belief that light Electric Vehicles for sustainable urban mobility is an idea whose time may finally have come. Thus, this investment at Akurdi completes the virtuous cycle of hi-tech R&D competencies, high-efficiency engineering capabilities, world class supply chain synergies, and global distribution network which should leapfrog us into a market leading position in EVs in India and overseas.”

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