Misfits in EV business attempting to make inroads into sector: Rajiv Bajaj

Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj on Friday took a dig at the mushrooming growth of the EV startups and series of fire incidents in some electric vehicles in the recent past, questioning their underlying process of manufacturing.

Speaking at the inauguration of Bajaj Auto’s wholly-owned subsidiary Chetak Technology Ltd’s dedicated electric vehicle manufacturing facility at Akurdi, Bajaj said that the people who have no business to be in the business of EVs are trying to be in this space. “The issue is not the fire itself. This (such incidents) happened in the vehicles with internal combustion engines as well.

He further noted that “what concerns me more is the environment that has promoted this mad whole rush. This must be fixed. Maybe, if I can say so, the relevant authorities in the government have diluted norms for EVs.” It (EVs flooding the market) may partly be because of the incentives as well, he said.

“Under the guise of low-speed vehicles you can bring any chunk of vehicles from anywhere and put it on the road. You will not have these scooters catching fire? What do you expect,” he asked. Stating that the company has kept its commitment of commissioning this project by June, Bajaj said, this focused, integrated and agile facility is intended to power the Chetak’s ride back to the future.

“Chetak is the original ‘Make in India’ superstar, which won hearts worldwide. True to those designed-and-built-in-India roots, the electric avatar of Chetak is born out of our strong R&D, deep understanding of products and consumers, and decades of manufacturing expertise,” Bajaj said. Chetak Technology Ltd (CTL) and its vendor partners will be investing nearly Rs 750 crore in this new EV manufacturing facility.