Ather Energy CEO Tarun Mehta has advocated for the inclusion of electric vehicle startups under the Modi government's Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. In a post on X, Mehta strongly pitched to the policymakers for including electric two-wheeler startups under the scheme, expressing surprise over.
He expressed surprise as to why the government is resistant to extending support to new-age EV startups under the PLI scheme.
"I have had the opportunity to engage with several policy makers on the topic of Auto PLI, excluding startups, and I just can't believe that they would think so," Tarun Mehta said.
He argued that the framing of the scheme needs to stay aligned with where the Indian EV market is today.
Tarun Mehta said current eligibility norms place emerging EV makers at a 13-16 per cent cost disadvantage relative to incumbents, and called for a calibration of the scheme rather than a complete overhaul.
He said that new-age EV startups have emerged as industry leaders in innovation, technology, volumes and market share over the past decade, and were now investing hundreds, and even thousands of crores in fresh manufacturing capacity, in line with the PLI's stated objectives.
Citing Ather's own investments, he said the company has employed over 4,000 people directly and tens of thousands indirectly across its dealer network and supply chain.
Ather has committed Rs 2,000 crore towards a greenfield facility in Maharashtra, in addition to earlier capex and R&D outlays running into thousands of crore.
Tarun Mehta further said that an EV policy which defines champions through legacy scale, and not scale within the industry, may create an "unintended imbalance and shape how the market evolves over the long term.
He suggested that more flexible PLI eligibility, tied to localisation and R&D intensity rather than legacy scale benchmarks, would help build long-term capability instead of near-term scale.
