US based global investor and tech provider, Mallawa Ventures Inc., has decided to invest about USD 1 billion (nearly Rs 8,000 crore) in Tamil Nadu to manufacture hydrogen-powered electric buses by 2030.
The company is currently in the process of identifying land to set up the manufacturing units for producing the buses and the hydrogen cells on the outskirts of Chennai, Mallawa Ventures, President and CEO Raj Karan said.
“We want to bring out hydrogen-fuelled electric buses by 2030. The first set of e-buses will be launched in 9-12 months. The office will be headquartered in Chennai, and we also want Chennai to be a hub for manufacturing such e-buses,” he commented.
The company expects about 4,000 employees to be recruited in the initial phase at the facilities, he said.
“Our investment will be USD 1 billion (roughly Rs 8,000 crore) the hydrogen fuel cell plant may require some investments…,” he added.
While the first set of 12-meter electric buses is likely to be rolled out by 9-12 months, the company expects to reach production levels of 1,000-1,500 buses a year by 2030, he said.
The electric buses would be available in three variants of different floor heights — 400 mm, 650 mm and 800 mm and would be able to ply between 350 km and 750 km per charge.