According to Tarun Mehta, the CEO and co-founder of Ather Energy, an e-scooter manufacturer, India will need to support the switch from motorbikes that emit pollution for a few more years in order to maintain subsidies for e-scooters.
Tarun Mehta, the co-founder and CEO of Ather Energy, pleaded with the government to keep funding e-scooters in order to accomplish India’s aggressive 2030 electrification targets. He stated that the expansion has halted due to subsidy reduction, emphasizing the necessity for increased government assistance to make the switch from motorbikes that emit pollution to electric scooters.
In an interview, Mehta told Reuters “We’ve been able to cut down a lot of subsidy reliance, but it’s also come at the cost of almost a year’s worth of lost growth.” He was alluding, according to Reuters, to the government’s unexpected decision in May 2023 to reduce monetary incentives for e-scooters from 40% of the purchase price before tax to a maximum of 15% of the price before tax.
As the world’s third-largest oil importer seeks to lessen its reliance on fossil fuels, industry analysts believe subsidies, such as monetary incentives, are essential for India to meet its target of electrifying 70% of its two-wheeler fleet by 2030, according to a Reuters article.
Ather Journey
With the introduction of its 450 series of e-scooters in 2018, Ather was among the first businesses to spearhead the adoption surge. The article stated that TVS Motor and Ola Electric, two bigger competitors, have outperformed the company in sales due to their discounts.
Ather, which has Hero MotoCorp, the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India as one of its top investors, unveiled the ‘Rizta,’ a new “family-friendly” e-scooter on Saturday for 109,999 rupees ($1,321). Mehta anticipates that the scooter’s more roomy seat and ample storage would draw in a broader customer base in India’s populated north and west, hence increasing sales.
Mehta stated that although Ather is concentrating on top-line development, the business has not yet broken even. “Hopefully, the Rizta plays a meaningful role because I am happy with how margins are shaping up at the unit level,” he said, without going into greater detail.
Although still modest, the Indian e-scooter business is expanding; in the fiscal year 2023–2024, it will make up 5% of all two-wheeler sales. The remarks made by the CEO of Ather highlight the necessity of ongoing government support to promote the nation’s adoption of electric vehicles.