EKA Mobility raises Rs 200 Cr from ENAM Holdings

Electric vehicle maker EKA Mobility has raised Rs 200 crore from private equity firm ENAM Holdings. Based on the achievements of internal targets, the fundraise will elevate EKA to unicorn status, according to the company’s founder, Sudhir Mehta.

The Pune-based startups intends to use the newly raised funds, which was raised on a convertible preference share basis, to set up its three manufacturing plants.

Two of the company’s plants are operational with the first bus plant in Pune currently in phase one of its operational capacity. This will be expanded to phase two in the next few months. The company’s Chakan plant is already up and running and EKA is setting up its third manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh for which construction has already begun. The facility is expected to be up and running by the end of this year.

These manufacturing plants are expected to boost the company’s product offerings in the next two years. During this period, the company will be rolling out a series of passenger vehicles, ranging from a three-seater to a 125-seater bus, Mehta told YourStory.

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In the goods carrier segment, the company will roll out products covering half tonne carriers to 55 tonne carriers. “So this will be done over the next two years and we hope to have the largest commercial electric vehicle portfolio in the country,” said Mehta.

Currently, EKA Mobility has an order book of 3,000 buses and more from incoming orders placed by state governments and private players. The company is looking to deliver between 2000 to 2500 buses in this financial year.

Next year, the company will have a capacity to manufacture 1000 buses per month. In the manufacturing facility that is currently under construction, EKA is targeting a capacity of 5000 vehicles per month, in phases.

Mehta also added that the company and its suppliers have stocked up on rare earth magnets, crucial for manufacturing EVs. “It is a concern because, obviously, this is one of the areas in which China is kind of the only game in town…in the short term,  we are certainly engaging intensively with the government as an industry body,” he said.