Olectra Greentech Chairman KV Pradeep Resigns Citing Personal Reasons

KV Pradeep, the chairman and managing director of Olectra Greentech Ltd., has resigned, citing personal reasons.

“The effective date of his resignation shall be informed in due course of time,” according to the exchange filing that informed Pradeep’s resignation on Monday.

That, amid an inflated order book that’s facing risk of cancellations.

According to an investor presentation released on May 28, the electric-bus maker clocked a compounded annual growth rate of 45% since FY22 to Rs 1,802 crore in FY25. That was from 2,352 electric buses sold in the past four years. That compares with 10,969 pending orders as on March 31.

On May 27, Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said that the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation is in the process to cancel an order for 5,150 electric buses from Olectra Electric. That order was reinstated on May 31 under a new delivery schedule.

On June 1, however, Telangana scrapped its intercity bus order with the company after only 10 out of a total of 50 electric buses were delivered. These orders were placed in March 2023.

To be sure, Olectra Greentech is doubling its production capacity to 10,000 units per annum to cater to the incoming demand, so much so that it’s confident of fulfilling the order book in time.

“The demand for electric buses is quite significant. The orders which we have mentioned in the pipeline is nearly 15,000 buses in the near future,” B Sharat Chandra, chief financial officer at Olectra Greentech, said during an earnings call on 28 May. “We are not foreseeing any challenges in case any order gets cancelled. But we are also optimistic that no order will get cancelled because in the past also we clarified it is mutually beneficial for the state transport undertaking and the company.”

On Monday, Olectra Greentech shares rose 0.18% to Rs 1,224.35 apiece on the BSE even as the benchmark Sensex ended the day 0.31% higher at 82,445.21 points.