Relux Electric secures INR 250 crore project funding to expand charging network on highways • EVreporter

EV charging infrastructure provider Relux Electric has announced that it has secured INR 250 crore of cumulative project funding from a group of private real estate and infrastructure investors to expand its network of EV charging stations on the highways of South India. The company will utilise the fund to create 20 new charging stations within the next 8 months.

Relux Electric is currently operating 100+ charging stations in south India. Located alongside highways and at strategic locations within cities, these charging stations cater only to private vehicles. However, the company is soon launching a new vertical for fleet operators and commercial vehicle owners to set up AC charging stations in their locations.

Managing Director and CEO Karthikeyan Santharam said Relux has identified land parcels on busy highways such as NH 44, NH 45, and NH 556. The company will procure lands and set up the charging stations, each occupying an area of 1 to 1.5 acres. Boasting a minimum capacity of 1 MW each, the hypercharging stations can let as many as 10 small to medium-sized cars, 10 high-end cars, 2 buses and a truck charge simultaneously. The charging stations will also have amenities such as eateries and shopping centres. The charging stations guarantee a 10-minute charging time for three-wheelers and an 18-minute charging time for four-wheelers.

The company is also expanding in Eastern and Western India, having built a strong presence in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. The statement claimed that Relux Electric is valued at about INR 800 crore and retains 100% equity.

Relux Electric has chosen the route of project funding for the current round of expansion, which is based on revenue sharing. However, as Relux Electric has an aggressive plan to exponentially increase the number of charging stations in its network within a year, the company is already in discussions with investors. It is willing to explore various funding options. Further, the company statement added that Relux still has control of the entire 100% equity even after this project funding.

“We are able to make operational profit from day one as our focus is always on maximizing utilization – rather than on increasing the strength of the network. We are also committed to developing our own team for R&D, and operations & maintenance. As an Original Design Equipment company, we procure charging equipment based on our own designs. These factors make it possible for us to keep the downtime to a bare minimum of a few hours and ensure higher utilization of assets – up to 40%, which is double the industry average”, added Karthikeyan.

On the launch of the new vertical, Mr Karthikeyan said it would focus on signing up builders of residential and commercial complexes, fleet operators and travel agencies to use our dedicated Hubs for their needs. “We don’t want to club personal and commercial vehicles in the same place, which affects the reputation and operation difficulties of space providers”, he signs off.