There is an urgent need for safety and emission norms for the electric vehicle (EV) industry, and without proper regulations in place, the transition to EVs could be hindered, says Anish Shah, MD & CEO of Mahindra Group.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan, Shah highlighted Mahindra Group's proactive approach to the transition to EVs and he reassured that the transition to EVs will not have any negative impact on the company's margin and cost.
Shah said, “With regard to other norms that are coming in, some of them are required. But, we necessarily need safety norms, better emission norms and that's something that we have always been a leader in so that it doesn't worry us too much.”
Shah expressed his belief that the government has the right intentions to help facilitate the transition to EVs and emphasized the importance of subsidies to ensure it happens smoothly.
He said, “From an intention standpoint, we see the government with the right intentions, which has helped the transition. However, we do feel that the subsidies will be there to ensure that transition goes smoothly and we don't see any major challenges to that, as of now, at least.”
In addition to EV related updates, Shah also shared some insights on the company's overall performance. He mentioned that rural demand is much better than they expected and December was an outstanding month for the company with a 30 percent growth in tractor sales.
He said, “December was an outstanding one. We had a 30 percent growth in tractor sales in December. So the year actually is trending much better than we expected. We are seeing at least the agri side of rural to be a lot more buoyant than we had initially expected.”
Shah mentioned that there are no specific number as far as company's EV investments are concerned.
When asked about the company's EV investments, Shah did not provide any specific numbers but stated that they will have to invest a little more as they move forward with the transition.
He also mentioned that the company is exploring options on the battery side and may decide on working with partners and setting up a battery plant themselves.
(Edited by : C H Unnikrishnan)
First Published: Jan 20, 2023 6:14 PM IST
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