Can you tell me about the recent global investment that Mahindra & Mahindra has gotten for their EV business?

Mahindra & Mahindra has made a big bet on the electrical vehicles (EV) business and it is getting valuations to boot. For example, British International Investment (BII) will invest Rs1,925 crore into the EV business of M&M at an enterprise valuation of Rs70,070 crore for the EV business standalone. Interestingly, M&M EV business has got top dollar valuations at par with the EV business of Tata Motors. Mahindra & Mahindra has envisaged total capital infusion of Rs8,000 crore for the new EV company between FY24 and FY27.

M&M will use the EV bet to de-risk its core dependence on tractors and cars, and to reduce the dependence on the traditional internal combustion engine technology. Mahindra Electric Mobility sold 17,006 EVs in FY22 compared to 5,418 EVs in FY21. It is already a market leader in the electric three-wheelers space with market share of 73.4%. M&M and BII will also work jointly to bring more like-minded investors into the EV business. The idea here is to accelerate the growth of EVs in India in a big way.

How does this aggressive EV foray fit into the overall scheme of things of M&M. This is likely to be a lateral expansion towards a greener future. But there is a lot of synergy story too. For instance, the EV business will significantly leverage the manufacturing capabilities, product development, design and the ecosystem of M&M. It will also leverage the supplier networks, dealers and financiers of M&M. Mahindra Group itself aims to be Planet Positive by 2040 and this perfectly gels in for them.