CHENNAI: Bharat Alt Fuel (BAF), a start-up, has signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to set up an electric two-wheeler manufacturing plant in Krishnagiri district, at a cost of Rs 250 crore. Construction of the plant is expected to start in six to eight months and will be partially operational by 2023.
The facility will have an initial production capacity of 25,000 units and will be scaled up to 100,000 EVs over the year. The facility has the employment potential of 3,000 jobs. Sorubh Kumar, Executive Director, BAF, said the factory will make all critical components including batteries and motors, making it 80 per cent indigenous. The company initially plans to introduce a single model with three variants.
The model would have a range of 100 - 120 km mileage on a single charge, depending on the terrain and the speed. The company depends on batter swapping and fast charging technology instead of setting up EV charging facilities. Sorubh Kumar said with a focus on southern markets, it will set up retail outlets and service centres in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.