Top Gun

Not many have the distinction of doing what industry veteran, Jeetendra Sharma, Founder & MD, Okinawa Autotech Pvt. Ltd., did. He named his two-wheeler company, Okinawa, after an island in Japan! “When I was working with Honda, I had the opportunity to visit Okinawa island, in Japan. There, I learnt that majority of the island’s inhabitants lived for over 100 years, and this was attributed to the low pollution levels that the island boasted of. This inspired me to return to India, and establish an Electric Vehicle company that can replace the use of conventional fuel, thereby helping reduce pollution, I named it after that island – Okinawa,” says Sharma.   With “Electric Vehicles” being the buzz words on the Motoring scene, Sharma, had the foresight to start Okinawa Autotech Pvt. Ltd., back in 2015. Okinawa, went on to become the first Electric Vehicle manufacturer in the country to receive the approval of FAME-II. (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles – Part II.) However, Sharma says that though the last two years have seen a lot of players foraying into this space, “the Electric vehicle industry is still very nascent in India, where every player is trying to promote