- BYD is expected to unveil its investment plans by the end of 2019 or in early 2020
- BYD is in advanced talks with its Indian partner, Olectra Greentech Ltd, to either form an equity joint venture or invest in a stand-alone entity in the country
- BYD’s investment would mark a deepening of Chinese presence in India’s automobile market billed to become the world’s third largest by 2025
Warren Buffett-backed BYD Auto Co. Ltd, China’s biggest electric carmaker, is set to make a significant investment in India to develop and produce electric vehicles, said two people familiar with the matter to Mint.
BYD is expected to unveil its investment plans by the end of 2019 or in early 2020. The company is in advanced talks with its Indian partner, Olectra Greentech Ltd, to either form an equity joint venture or invest in a stand-alone entity in the country, the two people informed.
BYD currently has a technical alliance with Secunderabad-based Olectra for assembling BYD’s electric buses in Andhra Pradesh. It has also recently begun assembling lithium-ion cells at a factory in Chennai.
BYD’s investment would mark a deepening of Chinese presence in India’s automobile market billed to become the world’s third largest by 2025.
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Meanwhile, Great Wall Motors Co. Ltd, China’s largest SUV producer, has earmarked an initial investment of $1.6 million to open a subsidiary in India.
The burgeoning presence of Chinese companies come amid rising trade tensions with the US and also the fact that India with its large middle-class offers a long-term growth opportunity.
BYD, which is also one of the world’s top producers of lithium-ion batteries, is enthused by the Indian government’s commitment to electric mobility and potential of the Indian economy over the next few decades, said the two people cited above.
