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UK’s BII revises investment in Mahindra EV arm to $76 million
The investment is less than the $85 million BII had committed as part of a second tranche
Automaker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd on Monday said British International Investment Plc (BII) will invest ₹650 crore ($76 million) in the final tranche into Mahindra Electric Automobile Ltd (MEAL), bringing the UK government-backed investment firm’s funding in the entity to ₹1,850 crore ($216 million), or 4.58% of overall share capital.
In February last year, the UK government’s development financial institution had said that it would invest Rs1,925 crore (about $250 million) in the four-wheeler passenger EV firm.
The first tranche was expected to close by 30 June 2023, and the second by FY24, subject to milestones.
M&M and BII earlier this year agreed to extending the deadline for the final tranche, after which they reassessed all the options and decided to change their investment.
BII had proposed investing ₹725 crore in the second tranche, but the two have together reviewed the situation and brought down the final tranche down to ₹650 crore, which will be completed by 31 March 2025, Mahindra said in a statement.
The long-term strategy or business plans of the company would not be affected by the new terms of investment.
M&M said that it would invest ₹12,000 crore in MEAL over the next three years and plans to do so by 31 March 2027. MEAL, one of the main planks of M&M’s EV strategy, was formed in October 2022.
In November, the company rolled out two electric sport utility vehicles–the BE 6 and XEV 9e. Mass production of BE 6 and XEV 9e are scheduled for early 2025, and are respectively priced at ₹18.9 lakh and ₹21.9 lakh, ex-showroom.
To augment production, M&M has committed another ₹4,500 crore investment–part of ₹16,000 crore set aside for this electric vehicle venture between FY 22-27.
In addition to BII, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, had announced ₹1,200 crore investment in MEAL in August last year.
So far, BII has invested $33.5 million in three Indian EV companiesEverest Fleet, TI Clean Mobility, and Vecmocon.
BII’s EV strategy involves an investment of up to $1 billion in climate-mitigating initiatives and green technologies innovation in India.
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