Ather Energy Announces Investment of Rs 635 Crore Over Next 5 Years

Electric two-wheeler (E2W) manufacturer, Ather Energy has announced that the company is going to make an investment worth Rs 635 Crores over the next five years to scale up the production in its EV manufacturing facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. 

The company has recently begun operations from its mega-factory in Hosur, Tamil Nadu from 2nd January 2021. Since then, Ather Energy has begun deliveries in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad, and more deliveries planned in a phased manner across 21 other cities by Q1, the company claims. 

The company emphasized the ‘Make in India’ vision of the country as it claims to have 90 percent of the manufacturing of Ather Energy products is localised, including the battery pack which is made by Ather Energy only. 

The Ather 450X and the Ather 450 Plus e-scooters are completely Made in India, designed in Bengaluru. With a strong local ecosystem that has been developed, most of the supplier base for Ather Energy is in Tamil Nadu, making Hosur an ideal location for the factory. 

CEO & Co-founder Ather Energy, Tarun Mehta stated, “It’s been a great journey for us so far and the opening of this facility is truly a milestone for Ather. The consumer demand has increased by multiple folds and with us expanding to new markets, this state-of-the-art facility will cater to demand across the country.” 

“We are proud of the fact that we designed and built a product from scratch which is in line with the government’s Make in India vision. We are thankful to the Tamil Nadu government and their EV policies which have allowed us to have most of our supplier base in the State making us self-reliant,” he added. 

Apart from the EV manufacturing, the facility will also focus on lithium-ion battery manufacturing, which is a crucial area of focus for Ather Energy going ahead, the company said, adding it has designated “investment of Rs 635 crore over next five years”.

Additionally, the company said, this investment is an opportunity for value creation in the sector and will create job opportunities in the region. As a part of this initiative, more than 4000 employees will be trained in requisite skills in the EV sector over the next 5 years. 

The company claims that the facility can produce 120,000 battery packs annually. Ather Energy is the only EV OEM in the country that has filed 13 patents on the design and manufacturing of the li-ion batteries. 

The company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Tamil Nadu in December 2019, for this electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing facility in Hosur and began operations from 2nd January 2021.