How M&M is leading the EV push

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to use electric vehicles (EVs) to conserve fuel and cut the country’s swelling import bill amid the global energy crisis, electric cars made by homegrown automaker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) gained further traction.

Government functionaries and others switched to EVs overnight, and that came as a boost to M&M, which has an extensive line-up of premium EVs. This adds to the company’s recent outperformance that helped it overtake JSW MG Motor India to become India’s second-largest electric carmaker by volume for three consecutive months from March. M&M already leads the EV market in terms of revenue.

It has been recognised with the Special Jury Award in Sustainability Leadership in this year's BT India's Most Sustainable Companies.

“While it is still early, we are seeing a surge in interest in EVs especially from central and state governments,” Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director and CEO (Auto and Farm Sector), tells Business Today. “The PM’s appeal will further boost the strong shift in consumer behaviour,” he says.

M&M also leads the EV race in three-wheelers with its subsidiary Mahindra Last Mile Mobility.

All this has helped it attract marquee global investors including British International Investment, International Finance Corporation and Temasek, among others.

“Sustainability is becoming a key differentiator for corporate reputation. Investors are increasing their scrutiny of OEMs’ sustainability actions. Market regulator Sebi through Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting is raising non-financial data capture and disclosure by companies to the same level of importance as financial data,” says Jejurikar.

 

M&M aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 or sooner. It is also targeting to become 100% zero waste-to-landfill by 2030.

There is a very clear financial value here, says Group Chief Sustainability Officer Ankit Todi. “Our electricity bill is roughly Rs 700 crore annually. This would have been Rs 1,500 crore if we had not worked on energy efficiency. Renewable energy (RE) is cheaper in India depending on location,” he says.

RE currently accounts for 30% of the group’s electricity consumption. The company aims to increase it to 50% by FY27.

The group’s RE arm, Mahindra Susten, is developing a 150 MW hybrid solar and wind project worth Rs 1,200 crore. The auto and farm businesses of M&M have contracted capacity of 41.2 MW of wind and 25.9 MW of solar within this project which will annually generate 197 million kWh of energy and is expected to abate 184,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

“RE integration is key to ensuring India’s EV transition. That makes it truly sustainable, as the environmental impact of electric mobility depends on the cleanliness of the energy ecosystem. The current volatility presents an opportunity to accelerate the shift towards efficient, renewable systems,” says Jejurikar. The group has committed to adopting 100% RE by 2030.

Energy is consumed most in its factories producing cars and tractors. “Over the past 10 years, we have taken a number of initiatives to bring down the amount of energy needed to make one car by half,” says Todi.

M&M also monitors its financial turnover in ‘green aligned revenues.’ This includes revenues from EVs, net-zero homes, renewables, recycling end-of-life vehicles, among others. About 11% of M&M’s revenue was green aligned for FY25, the firm said, a steady increase from 6% in FY21.

The group is also doubling efforts to make its entire value chain sustainable. “We undertake an audit of suppliers on ESG parameters. If there is a major red flag, we help them solve it,” says Todi. He adds that this has helped decarbonise the micro, small and medium enterprises the company works with.

On the retail side, the group is creating a financial incentive for dealers to adopt RE. It has partnered with DBS Bank India to launch a first-of-its-kind dealer financing programme. The initiative aims to incentivise authorised dealers to adopt sustainable business practices by offering them favourable interest rates on loans.

The programme monitors greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, RE use, rainwater harvesting, responsible waste management, the availability of public EV charging facilities and even the number of eSUVs sold.

As EVs become mainstream, M&M has joined hands with lithium ion recyclers such as Attero and LOHUM to recover and reintegrate valuable materials. For end-of-life vehicle scrapping, there is Mahindra CERO, a joint venture of Mahindra Accelo and MSTC.

M&M is also integrating sustainability metrics as a key part of performance measurement. “Human beings work on incentives. We now have performance goals around sustainability,” says Todi.  

@karandhar11