The promoters of Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Company are in talks with global private equity investors to raise Rs 75 crore (Rs 750 million) by offloading 15 per cent equity, its managing director Chetan Maini said.

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The company is also preparing to launch its electric car 'Reva' in the United Kingdom by January 2004 and also expand dealerships in the country as part of a strategy to double its sales to 6,000 cars next year, Maini told PTI in New Delhi.

"Till date, our capital expenditure has been Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million). We need more money for our future expansion, which will be raised from the private equity investors. This will bring down the stake of the promoters to 85 per cent," he said.

He identified the International Finance Corporation, the private lending arm of the World Bank, as one of the investors it was in talks with.

The RECC was incorporated in 1995 as a joint venture between the Maini group and US-based AEV LLC to produce environment-friendly, cost-effective electric vehicles for city mobility.

The company's first product, REVA - a two-door passenger car is offered in three variants 'Standard', 'A/C' and the high-end 'Classe', which are priced at Rs 245,000, Rs 290,000 and Rs 320,000 respectively.

RECC plans to sell 1,000 cars this year and 6,000 the year-after, which, Maini said, would help the company to break-even and become cash positive.

RECC has dealerships in five cities including Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Jodhpur, which would be increased up to 15-20 cities by the end of next fiscal, Maini said.

He said the company recently started selling its cars in Malta, which would be followed by UK in the next three months.