Overview
- On Friday EKA Mobility formally opened six new manufacturing facilities in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh that lift its stated annual output to 40,000 electric vehicles including buses, trucks and small commercial models.
- Founder Sudhir Mehta said the group will spend ₹1,000 crore on research and development over the next four to five years after already investing about ₹3,500 crore to build its manufacturing network.
- The company reported an order book of more than 11,000 buses valued at about $1.7 billion and said it holds ‘Champion OEM’ status under the Centre’s Automotive PLI scheme.
- EKA aims to export 20–30% of sales to markets in Africa and elsewhere but company and industry spokespeople warned that limited commercial financing for fleet buyers remains a key barrier to faster deployment.
- The group projects it will create roughly 250,000 jobs over five years and the expansion could push down unit costs and speed fleet electrification if operators secure funding and competition from other OEMs does not compress margins.