Play EV theme via incumbents, stay away from OMCs: Hemang Jani
Hemang Jani, Independent Market Expert, says in India, it will be better to play the EV theme through some of the incumbent players. In two-wheelers, companies like Bajaj, Hero, TVS, and in four-wheelers, Maruti. It has been indicated that a large part of Maruti’s growth will come through hybrids or EVs. It makes more sense to go with those established players rather than trying to find newer emerging stories with very high valuations.
Jani would also stay away from OMCs because state elections are coming and just to get some more positive sentiment, the government may roll out some kind of a price cut and that may not be that positive for the oil marketing companies.
What is the outlook when it comes to the EV push, given that we are talking about this scheme? The Atul Auto management is saying it is going to benefit the entire EV value chain. Your take?
Hemang Jani: The fact that there is going to be a certain amount of incentivisation by the government is pretty much known and the actual rollout is not that good compared to what the market was expecting. Also, for EV as a theme, there is too much hype and many IPOs. Even some of the existing players who have that offering are commanding much higher valuations whereas the actual growth at the ground level may not be that good.
I believe that the overall story in India at least will continue for some more time, but it would be better to play it through some of the incumbent players, something like two-wheeler companies like Bajaj, Hero, TVS, and Maruti in
