Tamil Nadu firms shine in India's 1 mn EV sales; contribute over 40%

Two of every five electric vehicles (EVs) sold this year in India were made in Tamil Nadu, which ranks among the leading automobile manufacturing hubs globally. 

As many as 1,044,600 EVs were registered with regional transport offices until September 20 this year, according to data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ VAHAN Dashboard. Of them, 414,802 vehicles were produced in Tamil Nadu.

EV sales numbers stood at 1,063,812 units as on Monday.

Leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) -- Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Ather Energy, and Ampere Vehicles –have their EV manufacturing facilities in the state and now it expects investments worth Rs 50,000 crore in this space by 2025 and the creation of 150,000 jobs.

 “The EV sector is all set to become a focus sector, paving the way for a revolution towards achieving sustainable development goals,” said a government statement.
 

 Three leading manufacturers are based in Krishnagiri district, known as India’s EV capital. While Ola Electric registered sales of 175,608 units (as on September 20), TVS Motor sold 112,949 EVs; Ather Energy had a sales figure of 77,764.

 As many as 41,757 units of Ampere Vehicles (Greaves Electric) based in Ranipet have been registered this year. The figure for BYD India (in Kanchipuram) is 1,725 units. Stellantis (PCA Automobiles) in Tiruvallur has registered sales of 1,533 units, E-Royce Motors in Coimbatore of 1,242 units, Hyundai Motor India in Kanchipuram of 1,023, Reep Motors in Chengalpattu of 810 units, and TI Clean Mobility in Tiruvallur of 391 units.

 Tamil Nadu now aims to become the world’s EV capital. “Leading players in the sector have offered their insights and are excited about the momentum already being built up in the state. The government, possessed with deep industry insights, has been working towards giving a big push to the EV ecosystem – manufacturing of batteries, charging infrastructure and others,” the government said in the statement, highlighting that it has rolled out the Tamil Nadu Electric Vehicles Policy, 2023.

The state government has identified six cities – Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Salem, and Chennai – for development as EV hubs. Some of the natural advantages that aid this sector include the availability of a trained workforce, a network and supply chain of ancillary suppliers, a vibrant auto and auto component manufacturing ecosystem, and infrastructure and logistics support systems.