‘The top priority is to build capabilities for electric'

Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director of Bajaj Auto, tells Murali Gopalan that the company is working on a carefully thought-out plan for its electric foray. Hereiterates that there is no point getting distracted by the current frenzy prevalent now. On the other hand, it makes more sense to develop the brand in tandem with the market's own growth in electric so that the final script is ideally perfect.

- Murali Gopalan

For Rakesh Sharma, it is more important to take one step at a time when it comes to making the transition to electric.

The Executive Director of Bajaj Auto makes it clear that even while the stage has been set to create an electric two-wheeler hub at the Akurdi plant near Pune, formerly home to geared scooters, there is really no point putting the cart before the horse.

The urgency we have is more in terms of ensuring that we have the capabilities to be on top of the transition when it comes into the industry, says Sharma. Today, the penetration of high-speed two-wheelers in the EV space is barely 1-2 percent which literally means that the frenzy surrounding the whole growth is disproportionate to its size and penetration.

Consequently, it is not as if this minuscule component will dramatically change to 50 percent plus in the next 2-3 years. This is largely because the whole cost of the system - largely battery parts prices - has not reduced this year unlike what was seen during the last few years.

As Sharma explains, the trend may have eased off due to demand-supply issues, Covid interruptions etc and the factor to drive penetration has got muted at least for now. It now remains to be seen how long this will last.

Additionally, there are secondary factors at play too like the charging ecosystem for instance which will arguably be resolved once viability is in place. After all, there are enough entrepreneurs ready to participate in this ecosystem as was evident in the case of the lead acid three-wheelers which came in from China. One could charge these rickety offerings in any kirana store or in any nook and corner of the country.

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