With An Eye To Future, Bhubaneswar Entrepreneurs ‘Startup’ With This Exclusive Garage

Bhubaneswar: With several challenges lying ahead, India has just begun its journey of electric vehicles. Besides charging stations, which are few and far between, and erratic power supply, the electric vehicle users in the country face another major hurdle—a dearth of servicing and repair centres. This crisis planted the seed of an entrepreneurial idea in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar. And, the city now has an exclusive garage—which is more like a servicing and repair centre—for electric vehicles. Quitting their jobs, two men—Rupaj Kumar Panda and Shakti Sampad Das—set up ‘EV Garaz’ near Dhauli Square spread over 2,000 square feet in January 2021.

At present, the garage offers both B2B and B2C servicing and repair solutions for electrical vehicles of all sorts. The idea of setting up the repair centre was conceived two years back when Rupaj wanted to explore the untapped opportunities in the sector while still working as a software professional.

“I have been researching electric vehicles since 2019. During my research, I found that there are several companies offering electric vehicles. But, the major challenge is that all vendors of electric vehicles are procuring spare parts from other countries, like China, Taiwan or European nations. The spare parts are imported and assembled in India. So, Indian companies are struggling to conduct research on the technology. So, if there are any issues with the electric vehicle, they are simply replacing the parts. The semiconductor chips are not available in the Indian markets. But, by 2030 about 70 per cent of vehicles plying in the country will be electric vehicles. When so many vehicles are plying on the road, you need support for the same. Thus, we saw potential in EV servicing, consulting and training,” shared Rupaj, who holds a masters degree in Computer Applications from SOA University and also works as a software consultant for European firms.

But, running a service centre for electric vehicles wasn’t an easy affair. In a few days time, Rupaj and his partner realized that the main challenge was to find skilled manpower for the purpose. That’s when they tweaked their business model a bit to overcome the challenge. They shifted focus to generate skilled power. They collaborated with three institutes—CV Raman ITI, Government ITI Bhubaneswar and SMIT, Berhampur—to rope in students for the repair task. “The collaboration happened as I didn’t get the professionals from the market. There were no experts. We started giving hands-on practical training to the students in these institutes. We conduct workshops with original vehicles at these institutes. After training the students, we take them on board,” said Rupaj, who looks after the technical aspects of the business while his partner manages the investment-related issues.

As part of the training, the duo also pays about Rs 200 to Rs 500 to the students per day while they are repairing a vehicle.

As the market for electric vehicles in the state is still at a nascent stage, the duo manages to generate about Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 a month from the venture. The start-up provides servicing and repair solutions for two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers from Hero, Okinawa and Empire vehicles. Last December, the start-up got recognized by Startup Odisha and the MSME department.

“When it comes to electric vehicles, there are three key parts—the battery, controller and electrical wiring harness. While repairing the vehicles, we found out that the batteries are developing faults after one or two years. So, when the user goes to the dealers, they send the batteries for repair to the manufacturer in Delhi or Mumbai. It takes at least two to three months for the product to get repaired. But, we offer faster solutions for Odisha users as we are repairing the batteries in Bhubaneswar. For the controller and charger, we have been able to solve about 50 per cent of the issues. We are also able to repair electrical wiring harnesses,” explained Rupaj, who had travelled around the world before shifting back to his base in Odisha in 2018.

As a pilot project, the start-up is also converting old bicycles and scooters into electric vehicles. “We are converting the two-wheelers, which are about 15 to 20 years old, into electric vehicles. So far we have converted at least 10 bicycles and 2 to 3 scooters. If you convert old vehicles into electric ones, you need approval from the RTO. That is a challenge. Once, the government comes up with a clear-cut policy on the same, we will explore the possibilities in this domain full-fledged,” he shared.

The Odisha government has announced 100% exemption of motor vehicle tax and registration fees for electric vehicles (EVs).

In a notification, the Commerce and Transport department stated that the exemption will be applicable up to December 31, 2025, for all types of battery operated vehicles.

Earlier, the Transport department had submitted a proposal to the government for allowing subsidies on e-vehicles to attract customers. It proposed to extend a 15% subsidy on two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers with a maximum amount not exceeding Rs 5,000, Rs 12,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively.