First-of-a-kind move in the State with tie-up with a European agency

The public sector Kerala Automobiles Limited’s (KAL) plant at Aralumoodu, near Neyyattinkara, here will commence manufacture of electric buses for the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in nine months.

The e-buses are being manufactured by entering into an agreement with Swiss e-bus manufacturer HESS.

MoU

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at the ‘Evolve: Kerala mobility conference and expo’ in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Kochi on June 29.

“The plan is to manufacture the e-buses initially needed for the KSRTC. The State transport undertaking needs 3,000 e-buses,” Chairman of KAL Karamana Hari and Managing Director A. Shajahan told a press conference on Monday. It is the first time that the State PSU is venturing into the manufacture of e-buses with tie-up with a European company.

The aim of stepping into production of e-vehicles with the commercial production of electric three-wheeler was to migrate as automobile manufacturer of the new era, he said. The Chief Minister will kick off the commercial production of ‘Kerala Neem G’, the three-seater environmental friendly autorickshaw being manufactured by KAL, on July 10.

Mr. Vijayan will also inaugurate the modernised machine shop that has been set up on the KAL premises at ₹7 crore. KAL has secured the nod from Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) for the three-wheeler e-auto. The KAL chairman and Managing Director says 8,000 e-autos will be rolled out from the Aralumoodu plant.

The running cost per km will come to 50 paise, lower than the ₹1.30-₹1.40 a km for petrol/diesel-powered vehicles.