Faridabad-based electric vehicle maker Omega Seiki Mobility on Friday announced its plans to set up the world’s largest electric three-wheeler manufacturing plant in Karnataka at an investment of USD 250 million (about Rs 1,900 crore).
To be built on 250 acres of land in three phases and with a capacity to produce 1-million electric three-wheelers annually, the mega factory will commence production by the next fiscal, catering to both domestic and international markets, Omega Seiki Mobility said. The company will also be raising capital by way of equity and debt to set up the plant, it added.
The new facility will be supplemented by its supply chain of powertrains and battery packs, OSM said, adding it is also in active negotiations with existing and new suppliers for setting up ancillary manufacturing units in the vicinity of the mega factory. It will manufacture an entire range of its electric three-wheelers — Rage+, Rage+ RapidEV, Rage+ Frost, Rage+ Swap, and Rage+ Tipper. Besides, the new plant will also be manufacturing the soon-to-be-introduced electric passenger three-wheeler Stream, the company said.
“On the occasion of World Earth Day (April 22), Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM) is proud to announce that it will be setting up the world’s largest e-3W manufacturing unit in Karnataka with an investment of USD 250 million,” the company said in a statement. The organised electric three-wheeler market has exponentially grown by a massive 200 per cent in FY22 as against the previous fiscal. This has helped EV 3-wheelers now command a massive 46 per cent of overall three-wheeler volumes, said Uday Narang, founder-Chairman, Omega Seiki Mobility.
OSM currently has an order book of over 50,000 vehicles, as per the company. “We believe that adoption of EVs in the last-mile delivery sector and government bodies will help India become the first market in the world where the sale of an electric three-wheeler in proportion to an internal combustion engine-powered three-wheeler will be 3:1.
“We want to be the market leader in the three-wheeler market, not just in India but in the world and our Megafactory with a capacity of 1 million units is the first step towards this goal,” Narang said. The e-three-wheeler cargo segment is the backbone of the Indian last-mile mobility ecosystem, as these vehicles offer affordable transportation solutions to large parts of the country, which helps in the betterment of the bottom-line of logistics players at a time when petrol, diesel, and CNG prices are at an all-time high, the company said.
This segment is a very mature segment of the market in the ASEAN region. In recent years, this market has seen exponential growth, mainly driven by e-commerce companies for their last-mile requirements buoyed by the driving economics of EVs over diesel and CNG powered vehicles, it added. After successful entry in India, it is planning to enter international markets with joint ventures in Bangladesh, Egypt and UAE already in place, the company said.
“OSM is a global brand and the new OSM Mega factory will cater to the Indian as well as ASEAN, Africa and the Middle East markets,” Narang said. Stating that the company is already exporting its domestically produced e-three-wheelers to these overseas markets, Deb Mukherji, Managing Director, OSM, said, “We will also set up manufacturing facilities in these countries along with our local partners. OSM has also focused on integrating its product portfolio and is the only company in India to offer three power pack options long-range, rapid charging and swappable”.
To achieve high scale EV production, the company has set up JVs with Korean company Jae Sung Tech to manufacture a new range of powertrains. It is also planning to manufacture in-house motors and battery packs, it said. OSM, which also provides last-mile delivery solutions under its UNOXpress brand, operates its fleet in 20 cities.
