Saudi’s Abdul Latif Jameel to invest $220m in Indian electric vehicle maker

Saudi Arabian family conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel is to invest $220 million in India’s Greaves Electric Mobility, as it looks to benefit from the country’s growing electric vehicle (EV) market.

India is currently the world’s fourth-largest automotive market and Greaves Electric Mobility, a subsidiary of Indian engineering firm Greaves Cotton Ltd, produces two and three wheeled EVs.

Abdul Latif Jameel will initially invest $150 million, giving it a 35.8 percent stake in the company and making it the second-largest shareholder.

Selling affordable, cleaner alternative transport methods, Greaves Electric Mobility is one of the fastest-growing EV makers in India, recording sales of over 62,000 vehicles for the financial year 2022, a year-on-year increase of 128 percent.

Abdul Latif Jameel has already been in the transport sector for 65 years, through its partnership with Japanese car brand Toyota. It was also an early-stage investor and the third-largest shareholder in US EV manufacturer Rivian.

The deal represents growing interest among Saudi investors in the global EV market. Last month, Lucid Group, which is 60 percent owned by Saudi sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund, revealed plans to build an EV production hub in Saudi Arabia, which will have an annual capacity of 155,000 vehicles and help create 4,500 new jobs.

Under deals struck in February with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, Emaar, The Economic City and Gulf International Bank, Lucid will receive financing and incentives worth up to $3.4 billion over the next 15 years.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Saudi investment minister Khalid Al-Falih also said it was likely that at least three EV manufacturing facilities would be set up in the kingdom in the near future, without giving further details.