Tide is turning for us: Magenta

The growth of EV in a country is directly driven by local battery manufacturing capacities. According to Maxson Lewis, Managing Director, Magenta, “The policy to support battery cell manufacturing in India will be the turnaround.”

Performance of EV sector in India
The electric vehicle (EV) sector is as badly impacted as any other sector in India today by the pandemic and the ensuing economic lockdown. But fortunately given this was a nascent industry and only bound to grow, to that extent, there is a positive discussion and surge for EVs. Last year was an exceedingly good growth in electric 2-wheelers sold and also new entrants. However, the electric 4-wheelers sales had fared badly due to lack of options. Despite that there was an overall 23 percent growth in EV sales as against 5 percent in conventional vehicles.

This financial year is going to be an interesting story where the back-to-back launch of new EVs in the 4-wheeler space is going to drive some excitement in the market. Electric 4-wheeler sales for India in this FY may be the highest ever and already some numbers are indicating that.

Future of Indian EV sector in 2021
In fact, the pandemic has brought in a lot of positive discussion about EV. Like I had said in a forum earlier, the growth of EV in India is following this trend:
• 2019: What is EV?
• 2020: Should we consider an EV?
• 2021: Which EV should we consider?
• 2022: Why should we consider a petrol/diesel vehicle?

Let us hope for a day when we will ask what is ICE vehicle? Sooner the better for this planet!

Breakthrough policy decision that will drive EV industry growth in India
The growth of EV in a country is directly driven by local battery manufacturing capacities. And I am not referring to battery pack but core manufacturing of the cells.

The policy to support battery cell manufacturing in India will be the turnaround. Else it will be a lost cause forever, the same way we lost out on solar cell manufacturing and were left with assembly units.

There are two policies which can support this push for EV batteries and in effect the entire EV ecosystem:
1. An EV technology development park, like we developed for software development hubs in the last decade and today we are number one in that space.
2. Securitisation of minerals by the Indian government for battery manufacturing. This I believe is the key not only for EV but for overall power ecosystem which will shift from an oil-based economy to an electricity-based economy.

Growth drivers of Magenta’s business beyond 2020
Magenta has diversified business interest but all of it in the clean energy space – be it power which focuses on clean power generation and storage, ChargeGrid or Infomatics which develops IT platforms for clean power and mobility. So, in effect our business growth overall will be driven by mankind’s intention to go towards clean energy and clean mobility. Of course, there will be local and other factor one of which is the fast transition from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric mobility.

Despite challenges, how Magenta is turning the tide in its favour
Magenta is perfectly set in the space of clean power and clean mobility. So, we are not turning the tide. The tide is turning for us and Magenta is right in the middle of it all. All that we are doing is facilitating this transition with very unique solutions – be it hardware, software or even business models.

This financial year is going to be an interesting story where the back-to-back launch of new EVs in the 4-wheeler space is going to drive some excitement in the market.
Maxson Lewis, Managing Director, Magenta