Huge investment planned for electric car plant in Mirsarai

Four banks and a financial institution have teamed up to finance Tk 3.34 billion (334 crore) primarily under a syndicated loan agreement to set up an electric vehicle-manufacturing plant in Mirsarai, Chattogram by a private company, reports UNB.

Agrani Bank, Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Bangladesh Development Bank and Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Limited (BIFFL), a financial institution (FI), will arrange the fund to set up the car plant.

A loan agreement was signed among the banks, FI and manufacturer Bangladesh Auto Industries Ltd (BAIL) in the city on Wednesday.

BAIL is setting up the electric vehicle manufacturing plant in the Bangabandhu Shilpa Nagar.

Lithium-ion battery, motor and controller for the vehicles will be manufactured under the project to ensure 75 per cent local value addition to the vehicle making it available at an affordable cost.

Officials said Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority or BEZA has already allotted 100 acres of land for the project and the construction of physical infrastructure is almost complete.

As per the current plan, BAIL expects to go for test production of an electric vehicle by mid-2022. Initially, electric vehicles like sedans, SUVs and MPVs will be manufactured and they will gradually go for manufacturing other types of electric vehicles.

BAIL chairman MA Mannan Khan said their target is to provide sedans and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) at reasonable prices to the middle and lower-middle income groups of people in Bangladesh.

The company expects to sell an SUV at Tk 2.5 million (25 lakh), sedan at Tk 1.2 million (12 lakh) to Tk 1.5 million (15 lakh), and a hatchback at Tk 800,000 or even less.

The electric vehicles would help the users cut fuel cost by 90 per cent as the per kilometre energy cost would be less than Tk 2. The battery capacity will be 50 kilowatt hours.

The fully charging of an EV would cost Tk 400 as per the existing electricity tariff. With a 20-minute charge, an EV can run 400 km, Mannan said.

EVs will also help reduce maintenance costs by 90 per cent and carbon emission and toxic gas by 100 per cent alongside ensuring a better transport performance and road safety, the manufacturer claimed.

Mannan said what they are investing now is their primary one and they will investment more in phases.