The very old quartz clock manufacturer in India, Ajanta is in the news for its business of Rs 1 lakh car. The car will be derived under the dealing with the Chinese maker from Guangzhou. Ajanta which is a Rs1500 crore company, is in the Indian market as the reputed makers of quartz clocks and other home appliances along with electric bikes, vitrified tiles and CFL lamps.
The proposed car’s assembly unit is to be made at an investment of Rs100 crore and the deal is to be with an anonymous Chinese maker at the capacity of 5000 units a year. The deal may persist within this year, at the low valuations.The car is to be christened as “Oreva” ( marking the names of its founder OR Patel and his wife Revaben and is familiar in the tiles market)to be built in indigenous design targeting the urban crowd. The company’s top brass is, however, non-committal about the plan but disclosed that the deal would materialize provided the government extends its support for cheaper vehicles in terms of VAT and excise duty, which constitute the major share of the pricing.
The company is in a position to offer electric cars at Rs1 lakh given these relaxations by the government. The deal with the Chinese maker may bring in technology for moulding, designs and battery production, he said. This would also yield new markets for electric cars in India, he added further.In 2007 the company started its electric two-wheelers at the investment of Rs300 crore, as it is able to make 10000 bikes every year at its Kutch facility. Mr.Patel with his father and uncle Manubhai Patel (currently running the Samay group) initiated the Ajanta group in 1980s by introducing clocks @Rs100.Now they have devised a prototype for the car which is on a trial run at his own 400-acre facility near Morbi, Rajkot. It is designed to run at 120km/hr at one charge of 7 units of power which costs Rs35/charge. This is one among such 10 battery-charged cars with fourseats and six seats(Rs1.5lakh)