JOIN USHyundai to invest Rs 20,000 crore in Tamil Nadu over 10 years
Hyundai Motor India, the second largest car manufacturer in the country, on Thursday pledged to invest Rs 20,000 crore over a period of 10 years in Tamil Nadu to roll out new electric vehicle (EV) models and increase production volume from its Irungattukottai plant besides setting up a battery packing assembly unit and charging stations.
A Memorandum of Understanding for the investment was signed on Thursday between Unsoo Kim, MD & CEO, Hyundai India and V Vishnu, MD & CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Kim said Hyundai will utilise the fresh investment to produce five new models of EV to cater to multiple segments, setting up integrated facilities for end-to-end EV battery manufacturing base, and increasing the annual production capacity of the plant, 50 km from Chennai, to 8.5 lakh from the present 7.75 lakh.
“We are looking at an entire EV ecosystem which includes manufacturing of EVs, and a battery assembly unit will have an initial annual capacity of 1.78 lakh units. This will make us self-reliant and reduce the manufacturing price of the EVs,” Kim said, adding the investment of Rs 20,000 crore will be made between 2023 and 2032.
The company also said it plans to develop the Irungattukottai plant as a hub for clean mobility manufacturing and “mother plant” for emerging global markets. The sprawling facility caters not just to the domestic market but manufactures cars that are exported to over 80 countries.
Puneet Anand, Associate Vice President (Corporate Affairs), Hyundai India, said the company plans to produce EVs on mass scale to make it more affordable to the people, but refused to divulge details on the vehicle segments and when they will be launched. At present, Hyundai has two EV models – Kona and Ioniq 5 – in the premium segment.
Anand added that the battery packing assembly unit will be up and running within a year which will result in reducing ownership cost of the EVs rolled out in the future. He said the battery cells will be imported from Hyundai’s vendors and will be assembled into battery packs at the Irungattukottai plant, while assuring that the company is also committed to strengthening its local vendor network.
Kim said Hyundai India will set up 100 EV charging stations at key locations in major highways in Tamil Nadu over a period of five years. “This will include 5 dual ultra-fast charging stations, 10 single fast charging stations and 85 single fast charging stations,” he added.
The investment comes as yet another shot in the arm for Tamil Nadu, which has earlier claimed that it accounts for 34% of the investments made in the nascent EV sector in the country. The state government recently updated its EV policy with a special focus on cell and battery manufacturing. The state is already home to EV two-wheeler firms like Ola, Ather, TVS, Ampere, and Simple Energy.
In his speech, Stalin thanked Hyundai, which made Tamil Nadu its home in India in 1997 and rolled out its first car in 1998, for the “huge investment pledge”, saying it will help the state achieve its goal of emerging as a $ 1 trillion economy by 2030.