Saudi Arabia's Abdul Latif Jameel Group has signed an agreement with India's Greaves Electric Mobility, the electric vehicle arm of the engineering firm Greaves Cotton, to invest SAR 825 million ($220 million) in the company.
The Saudi company will initially pour SAR 560 million ($150 million) for purchasing 35.8% stake in Greaves Electric Mobility (GEM), followed by an investment of SAR 262 million ($70 million) within 12 months.
This is the second sizable Saudi investment in the field of electric cars.
In May, Lucid Motors signed an agreement to establish its first integrated production plant for electric cars in Saudi Arabia, aiming to produce around 150,000 cars annually after completing its factory in King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh on the Red Sea coast in western Saudi Arabia.
This will be Lucid Motors’ first factory outside the US.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund owns a majority stake in Lucid Motors, whose shares are traded on the US market.
“The Lucid Motors project will produce 300,000 electric cars before 2030,” revealed Bandar Alkhorayef, the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources and Chairman of Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), at the signing.
He noted that Lucid Motors’ decision to open its first factory abroad in Saudi Arabia is a great indication of the Kingdom’s ability to attract quality investments with modern technology, and that it would create a strong supply chain of metals, such as aluminum and sheet metal.
“We are now discussing with investors to build factories for car batteries,” he added, revealing plans to build an automobile assembly that includes various industries, including spare parts.
