EV startup River exploring Telangana for Rs 1K crore manufacturing facility

HYDERABAD: Bengaluru-based electric vehicles (EV) startup River Mobility Pvt Ltd is exploring the possibility of setting up a 5 lakh vehicles per annum EV manufacturing facility in Telangana at an investment of around Rs 1,000 crore.

“We are actively discussing with govts of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for land where we can construct our own factory. We would need anywhere from 25 to 50 acres for a facility that can churn out half a million units per year,” Aravind Mani, CEO, River Mobility told TOI.

He said the company has already invested about Rs 250 crore in its R&D facility and leased factory in Bengaluru, where it has a capacity to make 1 lakh units per annum and the next big investment will be Rs 1,000 crore in the larger owned facility for which it is scouting for options in southern states.

Pointing out that the company has already raised around $68 million (approx. Rs 575 crore) over the last three years, Mani said the company has very strong investors on board including Japanese giants such as Yamaha, Toyota, Mitsui and Marubeni.

“River is the first investment in India for Maniv Mobility, Trucks VC, Lower Carbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, Al-Futtaim Automotive and Marubeni Ventures,” he said while announcing the opening of the company’s first retail outlet in Hyderabad.