BENGALURU, Aug 3 Reuters Mahindra and Mahindra has raised 145 million from Temasek for its electric vehicle unit at a valuation of up to 805.8 billion rupees 9.8 billion, the latest fundraising by the Indian automaker as it looks to ramp up EV sales.

Temasek will take up to a 3 stake in the company which last year raised up to 250 million from British International Investments BII at a valuation of as much as 9.1 billion.

The automaker is aggressively trying to lift the share of its electric SUVs in a market that is dominated by larger rival Tata Motors, as the government pushes to grow EV sales to 30 by 2030 from less than 2 today.

Mahindra said it expects electric models to make up between 20 and 30 of its total SUV sales by March 2030 pushing back an outlook it gave last year of meeting that target by 2027.

Temasek39;s investment is a step forward, as we execute our strategy towards future leadership in electric SUVs, Mahindra CEO Anish Shah said in a press release.

India39;s EV market is small but growing, attracting interest from global players including Tesla.

The world39;s biggest EV maker is in talks with the government to invest in a potential factory that would build lowcost EVs, targeting a price of around 24,000. Analysts say this could pose stiff competition for local automakers.

Rival Tata Motors in 2021 raised 1 billion from TPG39;s Rise Climate Fund at a valuation of about 9.1 billion.

Mahindra had been in talks with global investors, including…