Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co. and Dutch electric bus maker VDL Groep have joined hands with India's Pinnacle Mobility Solutions Pvt Ltd, which manufactures electric commercial vehicles under the EKA Mobility brand.
The long-term partnership will involve joint investments of over $100 million (about Rs 850 crore) in phases, EKA said in a statement. It didn’t specify the exact terms of the transaction.
As part of the alliance, Mitsui will make “substantial” financial investments into EKA to help it expand its manufacturing operations, diversify its product portfolio, and ramp up exports to targeted emerging markets.
Nobuyoshi Umezawa, general manager of mobility business division at Mitsui & Co. India, said the Japanese conglomerate will use its global network to promote exports of EKA's products to overseas markets.
“This partnership with Mitsui and VDL Groep represents a significant step toward making India a global hub for electric vehicle manufacturing,” said Sudhir Mehta, founder and chairman of EKA Mobility.
VDL Bus & Coach, a subsidiary of VDL Groep and Europe’s leading maker of electric buses and coaches, will support EKA Mobility by transfer of technology to produce electric buses in India for the local market. “Although the basis of our development and manufacturing competences lie in north-western Europe, we see many opportunities in India, which is obviously a promising growth market,” said Rolf-Jan Zweep, chief executive officer, VDL Bus & Coach.
Founded in 1953, VDL Groep is an international industrial family business that operates in 19 countries. The group comprises more than 100 operating companies which had a combined annual revenue of 5.752 billion euros in 2022.
