Mirae Asset plans new EV and Automotive ETF, awaits SEBI approval

Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) is looking forward to the nod from markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch India's first electric vehicles (EV) and new-age automotive-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF).

This development comes days after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched the new thematic index–Nifty EV & New Age Automotive Index.

Typically, ETFs are a collection of bonds, stocks, and money market instruments that an investor can buy and sell through a brokerage firm on a stock exchange.

As an open-ended scheme, it is designed to mimic the Nifty EV & New Age Automotive Total Return Index. This index, managed by NSE Indices, comprises companies from the electric vehicle and new-age automotive sectors.

Its portfolio will comprise key players, companies that have received approval for the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in the automobile and battery segments, firms that are part of the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), besides those participating in the Centre’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) initiative.

Mirae Asset maintained that the latest new fund offering (NFO), once gets a go-ahead from the markets regulator, will be its sixth NFO in 2024 so far.

This new development comes at a time when the adoption of EVs is on a steady rise in the country.

The sales of EVs breached the 15 lakh mark in 2023, driven largely by two-wheelers and three-wheelers.

Amidst this spike, the EV landscape is experiencing the rise of several new entrants that are catering to various segments. This has resulted in more and more players witnessing healthy interest from both global and domestic investors.

The EV segment is also getting a major push from the government with schemes such as FAME and the scheme for manufacturing of electric cars. A new EV policy is also in the pipeline as more new entrants make their presence felt in the Indian market to manufacture their products.