Watch: Shashank Srivastava on the Maruti Suzuki MAIL initiative and the EV market

New Delhi headquartered car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) launched its Mobility and Automobile Innovation Lab (MAIL) initiative in January 2019 and has so far completed two cohorts.

The programme, which targets startups working in the areas of mobility and automobile space, recently invited entries for its fourth cohort. 

The MAIL programme, launched in partnership with Indo-Japanese early-stage seed fund GHV Accelerator, is Maruti Suzuki’s attempt to find innovative and cutting-edge automobile and mobility solutions.

A total of nine startups have been chosen from the first two cohorts. Last month, the company shortlisted four new startups — Dave.AI , Rezo.AI, Fabrik and ElectreeFi — for the second cohort of the programme. The third cohort of MAIL is currently underway.

The company is pushing into the electric vehicle space. At the recently concluded Auto Expo 2020, it launched its first electric offering called Concept Futuro-e.

In an interview with TechCircle, Maruti Suzuki executive director for marketing and sales, Shashank Srivastava spoke about how the MAIL programme encourages startups to use technology to solve real-life problems. He also spoke about the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem in India and how he thinks infrastructure hurdles pose a major challenge to EV adoption in the country.

Srivastava has worked with Maruti Suzuki for almost 12 years now and heads the MAIL programme.