Ajinkya Firodia: Man on a Mission

Ajinkya Firodia, Vice Chairman, Kinetic Group, talks to TURN OF SPEED about the company’s EV plans, their battery business, and about diversifying into the solar panel business.

Jan 25, 2025 RACHNA TYAGI No Comments Like

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MUMBAI :

Kinetic Engineering Ltd., recently announced a strategic investment of INR 177 Crore led by the promoters to drive transformation with an aim to achieve INR 1,000 Crore revenue target by 2029. The promoters have already committed to an initial investment of INR 55 Crore by March 2025. With the company gearing itself up for a major focus on EV innovation, we caught up with Ajinkya Firodia, Vice Chairman, Kinetic Group, to learn more about his plans and the direction in which he plans to steer the company along. Excerpts from the interview:

TOSWhat are your long term EV plans?

AF: We strongly believe that the EV market in India is going to see tremendous growth, but in the two wheeler and the three wheeler segment because it makes most sense. People think Indians are price conscious, but Indians are value conscious. In a two wheeler or a three wheeler, people see that they can get value. Already, we are seeing the cannibalization from petrol to EV in a very big way. Also, in the three wheeler or a B2B segment where you save on the petrol bus, so you get a direct benefit on the profit line, margin line, that's where the growth is happening. Because of that today, there are 350 players making two wheelers and three wheelers. There are established players, the new technology funded players, and there are a lot of traders. The government is incentivizing making in India, there's FAME subsidy, there are schemes, so everybody wants to now make in India. Once you make in India, then then you naturally have to understand the Indian customer. Earlier, it was more about taking a Chinese product and selling in India and showing that EV is a good alternate, but now, it is about making an Indian product for the Indian customer through Indian manufacturing and Indian technology, and this is where we come in, because we have some understanding of the Indian mindset, of the Indian values, and also [of] the manufacturing base. So, we are trying to tweak the technologies that are available from China or Japan or Korea to suit the requirement of the Indian mindset, which is best value, longer lasting, [and] more durable. A Chinese two wheeler lasts four years, Indians would prefer a technology that would last eight or ten years [something] that they don't frequently change… so, those kinds of things. 

TOSYou used the word “tweak,” isn’t there going to be anything that is completely in house? 

AF: Yeah, a lot of it is also in house. When you say “tweak,” that is just a base, but we have consultants, we have partnered with IIT, my father is an alumni of IIT, we are talking to various Indian companies, a lot of R&D is going on within India and within our group because the ideas come from here… you work with the guys and then it just starts to build. Eventually it is all going to be Indian technology. 

TOS: How do you view the battery business scene in India??

AF: The battery is half the cost of a bike . All cells are imported. Eventually somebody will make cells in India, but to make cells in India, you need INR 4,000-5,000 Crore investment and a 200-300 acre plant. All the technology is in the cells, you need real good volumes for that, so we're not getting into that, but within that also, once the cell comes in, to make batteries of different shapes, sizes, and designs to fit in the optimum products, all that is required to be done. There are some players doing a very good job, and we said, “why not us also?” So, we've tied up with a few companies and we have our own designing in place for trying to make good batteries.  [We are] understanding [aspects such as] … is NMC chemistry better or is LFP chemistry better or some other chemistry better? We have to now backward integrate into the BMS because the BMS is also imported from China, but now they' going to make us do it here, so that's how it works. 

TOS: Who have you collaborated with for this?

AF: It is not like a collaboration where we paid them any money, but it is an understanding that they know how to make cells and batteries, so we'll buy from them if they help us with the technology. 

TOS: Any names?

AF: Not at this point. 

TOSHave you zeroed in on the battery chemistry? 

AF: We know that we're going to get into both. LFP is a much better battery technology, because it's longer life and safer, but it is 30% more volumes, so some products will require NMC technology where you can give more range… so both. But I prefer LFP, it is a nicer technology. 

TOSYou mentioned that you will be looking at design in a big way. Can you throw some light on that?

AF: We’ve been making two print gear boxes, but now the whole culture has become “it is your product, you make it.” So, we've set up a design office from board to software. We've got a few senior people guiding [us], we have partnered with a few engineering design companies, we are also talking to Europeans for their design to make and adapt here. So this whole culture has come up in our group, after the transformation, where we will design our own gearboxes – the EV gearboxes – we design ourselves. So, [the progress is] by leaps and bounds where we start making our own products and giving it to customers… then we own the technology. 

TOSWhat does designing all of this entail?

AF: One is technical design, which is all about the technical [bits], softwares, validation processes, the people, the expertise, and making sure that not only is the product of a good quality, but also [ensuring it] offers value because value is the core of the business. And second, is product design, where it has to look good, has to be packaged well, and all that. We have a young team, a Gen Z team, working on that.  

TOS:  Shifting our focus to your company diversifying into the solar business... tell us more about it? 

AF: There’s two things, one is that we are making gearboxes for an American company that requires solar panels but it's a new business it is non-auto, it is diversifying… the volumes are huge. Every solar panel needs gearboxes, it is very easy for us to make them, so it's interesting for us. Because they have to move as per the sun, so it's very easy technology, nobody thinks about it, but it can be made in India, so we're doing that. And second, is to save our costs, we have invested in solar. We already have a two megawatt plant, we are getting a five megawatt plant so, it is going to help us. 

TOS: What countries are you planning to export your products to in the future?

AF: We are already exporting to US, Mexico, Slovenia, Sweden and Italy. 

TOS: Have you set your sights on other countries?

AF: I like the US, we like to focus on the US, and I've studied there. The market is big…long term contracts… [our] main focus will be American companies. 

 

 


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