RattanIndia Enterprises to buy Revolt Motors; stock rises 8%

Shares of RattanIndia Enterprises Limited surged as much as 7.84% to hit an intraday high of ₹55 on Friday after the company announced that it is acquiring a 100% stake in the electric motorcycle company Revolt Motors. The development comes months after the flagship subsidiary of Rattanindia Group acquired a 33.84% stake in the electric mobility company. 

Revolt claims its EV bikes have covered a distance of 100 million km in India so far. With its manufacturing unit in Manesar, the electric two-wheeler maker has 29 dealership stores across India. 

"With this acquisition of 100% shareholding in Revolt Motors we are doubling down on our belief that EV revolution in the country is coming in faster than we anticipate. I do not have any doubt that what is good for environment and the country makes for a great business. Indian’s are very keen customers when they see value. We are ready for next growth phase for Revolt Motors," says Anjali Rattan, business chairperson, RattanIndia Enterprises.

In order to stimulate domestic electric two-wheeler manufacturing in India, the government launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing (FAME) scheme of Electric Vehicles in India aimed to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and to address issues of vehicular emissions. Under the FAME I scheme, 479 charging stations have been installed as of July 1, 2022.

The FAME II scheme has an outlay of ₹10,000 crore to provide upfront subsidies to EV manufacturers for the next 5 years. Last year, the government approved a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) in May 2021 with an aim to promote the faster adoption of electric vehicles in the country. 

Moreover, the government had earlier reduced the GST on electric vehicles from 12% to 5%. GST on chargers and charging stations for electric vehicles was also cut from 18% to 5%, in order to make electric vehicles affordable. 

As per the government data, as of July 2022, the country recorded 13.34 lakh electric vehicles compared to 27.18 crore non-electric vehicles. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest 3.37 lakh EVs in the country, followed by Delhi at 1.56 lakh EVs and Karnataka at 1.20 lakh EVs. Maharashtra has 1.16 lakh EVs whereas Bihar has 83,335 electric vehicles. Notably, Ola Electric, Okinawa, and Hero Electric are some of the dominant players in the domestic EV market.