'Purely speculative': M&M on buzz of EV business attracting Rs 6,000-cr investments

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd on Friday dismissed rumours of its electric vehicles (EV) business, EV Co, attracting investments to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore as being "purely speculative".

"The Company has received calls regarding a market rumour that a potential investor is infusing funds to the tune of Rs 6,000 crores in the EV business of the Company. In view of the above speculation, the Company on its own considers it necessary to clarify to the Stock Exchanges that even though the Company has not appointed a banker to commence fund raising, the EV business of the Company continues to attract interest from investors," said the firm in a stock exchange filing.

However, M&M said it continues to have discussions with a "select set of marquee investors".

"Further, as an ongoing process, the Company continues discussions with a select set of marquee investors and the amounts indicated are purely speculative. The Company’s approach has been consistent in terms of raising a small amount of funds to reduce dilution. The Company has complied with and continues to comply with the relevant disclosure norms under the Listing Regulations," said M&M.

In March, Mint reported that the firm is in advanced talks with global investors to raise $1-1.3 billion by selling shares in its EV unit.

The conglomerate has estimated an investment requirement of at least ₹10,000 crore for its EV business over the next 2-3 years.

Last year, M&M and British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, signed a binding agreement to invest as much as $250 million each into Mahindra’s EV subsidiary.

The Indian auto major announced that it will launch five electric SUVs for both domestic and international markets.

The automaker said the five electric SUV models would be introduced under two brands -- XUV and the all-new electric-only brand called BE.

Legacy brands will come under the XUV brand while the all-new electric model would be rolled out under the BE lineage.

The Mumbai-based automaker expects a quarter of the SUVs it sells to be electric by 2027.

On Friday, shares of Mahindra & Mahindra closed trading 1% higher at Rs 1,563.8 apiece on the BSE.