Firm to remain fully indigenous

Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Company Limited (KEL), which has about half a century of experience in rotating electric machinery, expects to develop a prototype motor for heavy electric vehicles by August this year.

KEL has overcome the initial challenges and ‘we will be 100% Indian,’ says KEL Managing Director Shaji M. Varghese about the public sector unit’s commitment to developing the design and manufacturing motors in India itself.

While KEL’s competitors appear to be trying to copy foreign models, the Kochi-based company has gone ahead with the bold idea to remain fully indigenous. Motors will be the heart of electric vehicles and KEL is keen to perfect a model for any e-vehicle producer.

KEL’s success in the electric motor segment will not only spell a new chapter for the company’s future but also blaze a trail for Kerala as a whole, which has committed itself to the goal of having a million e-vehicles on its roads by 2022. The Kerala e-vehicle policy has set a target of a pilot fleet of two lakh two-wheelers, 50,000 three-wheelers, 1,000 goods carriers, 3,000 buses and 100 ferry boats by 2020.

The State government also targets major investments and employment opportunities in areas like power electronics, battery pack assembly, electric motors and accessories as well as areas in research and development.

The KEL official said the company was doing well in terms of general growth with a business turnover of ₹171 crore during last financial year. The growth is from ₹95 crore in the previous year.

KEL has its train lighting alternator division at Kundara, near Kollam; transformer as well as structural divisions at Mamala in Ernakulam district; LT switchgear divsion at Olavakkod, Palakkad district and cast resin tranformer division at Edarikkode, Malappuram. The company has been part of prestigious projects like the Falcon, Trishul and Prithvi Missile Projects and continues to have a healthy order book.