Bajaj Auto Inaugurates New Facility For Manufacturing EVs Under Chetak Brand

Bajaj Auto resurrected the Chetak brand in 2020 with launch of the Bajaj Chetak electric scooter. And now the company has inaugurated a new EV manufacturing facility under the Chetak Technologies Limited brand. Originally, Bajaj Auto's Chetak manufacturing plant was built in an area of 6.5 acres in 1983 and the automaker has assembled about 5 million petrol-powered Chetak scooters. The company has invested Rs. 300 crore for its EV plant that spread in 11.3 acres and all components used for the EV have been indigenously developed. Along with its component suppliers, the company has invested a total of Rs. 750 crore in its new EV subsidiary and the new plant has an annual manufacturing capacity of 5 lakh units.

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Bajaj Auto is sourcing as much as 90 per cent of EV components from local suppliers.

Bajaj Auto is sourcing as much as 90 per cent of EV components from local suppliers and 55 OEMs that supply components for Bajaj Chetak EV are located withing 25 km of the plant. Beside promoting local manufacturing, the approach has also helped the company to save on the transportation cost. Bajaj Auto is also planning to introduce new EV two-wheelers across segments under the Chetak brand by in the next 12 - 24 months. The company's research and development (R&D) team is also working on a platform that is more sophisticated and can cater to motorcycles.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajiv Bajaj, Chairman - Chetak Technology Ltd., said, "Chetak is the original 'Make in India' superstar, which won hearts worldwide. True to those designed-and-built-in-India roots, the electric avatar of Chetak is born out of our strong R&D, deep understanding of products & consumers, and decades of manufacturing expertise. Today on the 84th birthday of Bajaj Auto's late Chairman Emeritus Shri Rahul Bajaj, we have delivered on our commitment to commission this centre of excellence for Chetak by June 2022. This focused, integrated and agile facility is intended to power the Chetak's ride back to the future."

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Bajaj Auto's R&D team is also working on a platform that is more sophisticated and can cater to motorcycles.

Bajaj Auto is also aiming for gender neutrality in its workforce and 50 per cent of its female employees on the shop floor are women and, in a bid to encourage women empowerment, the company will increase this ratio to 80 per cent. The company will employee 11,000 people in the next 3-4 years at the Chetak Technologies Limited plant.