The new unit will have a production capacity of 500,000 EVs per annum and is based in Akurdi (Pune), also the site of the original Chetak scooter factory that made Bajaj Auto a household name.
Bajaj Auto Limited has announced an investment of Rs 300 Crore (USD 40 Mn) and commenced work at a brand-new unit at Akurdi for manufacturing Electric Vehicles. This unit will have a production capacity of 500,000 EVs per annum. Akurdi (Pune) is also the site of the original Chetak scooter factory that made Bajaj Auto a household name in India.
As per Bajaj Auto, the new electric vehicle unit will have cutting-edge robotic and automated manufacturing systems for everything, including logistics and material handling, fabrication and painting, assembly and quality assurance. The EV facility is spread over half a million sq. feet and will employ 800 personnel. The first vehicle from this unit is expected to roll out by June 2022.
This new EV manufacturing unit at Akurdi is co-located with Bajaj Auto’s R&D centre and Bajaj expects the Akurdi facility to convert into a hub for design, development and manufacturing of a complete range of Electric Vehicles.
Speaking about the new unit, 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 drive train 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.”
