The company has been in talks with investors for a possible fundraise of $200 million for quite some time now. (File photo)

Hinduja flagship commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland (ALL) on Thursdsay said the company is not facing any problem in finding investors for its electric vehicle arm — Switch Mobility — though it has been taking longer time than planned. The company has been in talks with investors for a possible fundraise of $200 million for quite some time now.

Dheeraj G Hinduja, executive chairman, ALL, told FE: “We have taken a little longer than was expected. In a way, this has benefitted us, the positioning of Switch has got stronger and it has received some orders recently. All these have only improved the credibility and valuation of Switch. We wanted to make sure that shareholders of ALL should also see an upside.”

Hinduja said the company has been in talks with multiple potential investors. “I don’t see any problem and I do believe that it will happen at the right course of time. But it has not affected growth or development of Switch and with the help of parent ALL, they are able to move forward undeterred,” he said. The company officials indicated that it may take some quarters more to arrive at a deal.

When asked whether it needs an independent manufacturing plant for EV products, Hiduja said at the moment, they are in a position to meet the demand for EVs within the available capacities in the production infrastructure of ALL itself. “Within the foreseeable future, we dont think we need to look at new alternate production site for EVs,” he said. Hinduja said the capex would be around Rs 600-700 crore which will be utilsed for new product launches and also to enter new international markets.

Courtesy: FE