Panasonic India Aims To Cater 1 Million Electric Vehicles In The Next 5 Years

The Indian subsidiary is looking to expand its footprint in key cities of the country in the next three years.

The Indian arm of Panasonic Corporation, Panasonic Life Solutions is looking forward to adding revenues of Rs 500 crores from its solar business in the country in the next 3-4 years. To expand its reach, the rapidly growing rooftop EPC player has planned to enter Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Amravati and Hyderabad before 2023. And in the subsequent 5 years, the strategy is to check-in in 25 more cities to reach its target of catering 1 million electric vehicles.

After acquiring Anchor Electricals, Panasonic looks to spread the net of its solar panels across the length and breadth of India.

Describing the solar journey of the Japanese tech giant, Panasonic Life Solutions’ Joint Managing Director Dinesh Aggarwal said, "We entered the solar market in 2014-15 and have established ourselves as a rooftop EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) solutions provider. We have been successful in executing projects across the country as well as in a few foreign countries.”

Among the total revenue target set for 2019-2020 of Rs 4,000 crore, the company is optimistic about earning Rs 200 crore profit from its solar business, Rs 50 crore from HIT modules and remaining from the EPC projects. In the previous financial year of 2018-19, it earned Rs 152 crore from its solar business.

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"We are bullish about the solar market here as there is an increasing acceptance, especially in the industrial and commercial segment, having rooftop captive generation. Earlier, subsidies from the government drove the demand, which is not the case right now. People have realised that they can get a payback in about 5-6 years for their investments. So, I believe investments will continue in solar," Aggarwal stated.

The company sells ready-to-deploy solar rooftop equipment along with other modules developed at its parent firm’s Malaysian facility. However, Aggarwal agreed that its modules are costlier compared to its Chinese counterparts.

On the question of its plans to enter EV manufacturing, he said, “We are gradually progressing in this area. Last year, we launched the smart EV charging service in India under the platform 'Nymbus'. The service helps EV users, EV fleet owners, e-commerce and logistics companies to manage their fleet more efficiently and also the utility providers, vehicle, equipment and battery manufacturers to understand the user patterns and calibrate the products and services accordingly.”