Indus Motor to invest $100 million in Hybrid Electric Vehicle production

KARACHI: The Indus Motor Company has announced a whopping $100 million investment in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) production over the next three years, a bourse filing said on Wednesday.

“We are pleased to announce that based on the incentives provided against certain taxes and duties as announced by the government of Pakistan through the Finance Act, 2021 and subsequent SROs, the company has evaluated and plans to invest an estimated aggregate amount of $100 million, over the period of next three years, for the local production of Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) in Pakistan,” the filing noted.

The announced investment will be made towards plant upgradation and extension, localisation of parts or components and production preparation or assembling of the first Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), by the company at its plant in Port Qasim, Karachi.

A A H Soomro, managing director at KASB Securities, said the incentives announced by the government would attract investments in the HEV sector.

“Thanks to the government incentives. Welcome to the world of HEVs. Reduce the oil imports and save the environment. Others should follow [the] suit,” Soomro tweeted.

Indus Motor posted net sales revenue of Rs179.2 billion in FY21, a 108 per cent increase, compared with Rs86.2 billion last year, while the profit-after-tax increased 151 per cent to Rs12.8 billion from Rs5.1 billion posted last year.

During the year, the sales volume of CKD and CBU vehicles increased 100 per cent, to 57,731 units as against 28,837 units sold in the previous year.

“[The] government’s consistent effort to promote the local automotive industry in the hybrid sub-sector is noteworthy. Its intent to locally develop Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) to mitigate climate change and reduce dependency on oil imports is appreciated,” Indus Motor Company CEO Ali Jamali said in a statement.