Sona with 1st auto PLI certification set to be key beneficiary of scheme

Sona BLW Precision Forgings (Sona Comstar) has become the first automotive component manufacturer to receive certification under the Government’s Auto Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The global provider of automotive technology solutions has filed seven applications for different products under the PLI scheme and received its first certification for the hub wheel drive motor for electric two-wheelers. The PLI scheme for the auto and auto component sector has a budgetary outlay of INR 259 billion over five years, starting from FY 2023-24.

The company’s R&D team designed and developed the EV-traction motor and launched its production in 2020. These hub wheel motors have optimized magnets/stator winding and the fully sealed motors (>IP65) avoid motor failure due to water ingress. They also provide quick acceleration and higher gradeability, consume lower battery power, provide longer mileage, and give more space for the battery in the vehicle.
Vivek Vikram Singh, MD & Group CEO of Sona Comstar expressed gratitude to the MHI, IFCI and GARC for this approval. “This recognition reaffirms the company’s commitment to making India proud of its engineering skills and solving complex and customized engineering problems. According to Nomura Ratings, EV export-oriented suppliers such as Sona may be better positioned to retain most of the PLI benefits while domestic suppliers may need to share part or all of the incentives with the OEMs. This should also drive other OEMs, which have not been approved for PLI or which want to claim PLI to partner with the approved suppliers, and hence, benefit the local ecosystem.

Analysts Kapil Singh and Siddhartha Bera find Sona as the best play in the Indian auto ancillary space on global electrification, with continuous addition to innovative products and new customers. With an orderbook of INR 240 billion, in gives visibility for a 36 per cent revenue CAGR over FY24-26. The company gets nearly 80 per cent of its orderbook from EVs and the benefits could be larger application for more products get approved and EV penetration picks up in India and globally.