Hinduja group flagship Ashok Leyland has earmarked around Rs 600-750 crore as capital expenditure for the current financial year, a top official said on Tuesday.

The heavy commercial vehicle major, earlier in the day, reported an over five-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 802.71 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2023 riding on robust sales.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit at Rs 157.85 crore for the same quarter previous fiscal.

Managing director and CEO Shenu Agarwal said, “The capital expenditure for the year would be Rs 600-Rs 750 crore. This would be for augmenting existing capacities (at manufacturing facilities) and some ‘debottlenecking’ would be there.”

Agarwal said the company reported highest revenue during the full year at Rs 36,144 crore against Rs 21,688 crore recorded year ago. “This is the highest ever revenue reported by Ashok Leyland.” Agarwal said.

Ashok Leyland is waiting for the Electric Vehicle ecosystem to be in place before it launches EV products.

Reiterating that the company’s electric programme was on track and products with alternative propulsion systems would start rolling out in the later quarters of this financial year, Agarwal said: “We are also waiting for the ecosystem to develop because our products, electric buses, trucks will need designated charging stations, unlike two-wheelers which can be charged at home or anywhere.”

On funding of Switch Mobility, Agarwal said: “We are looking at different investors. We need investors with profiles that will suit us.”