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!
It cannot be emphasised enough - current framing of Auto PLI needs to stay closely aligned with the moment India is in.
Over the last decade, the electric two wheeler ecosystem in India has evolved through contributions from both incumbents and electric first companies. Many of these startups invested early in product, software, power electronics, and localisation, often without the cushion of legacy scale. In doing so, they have pushed the boundaries and pulled in the competition to together build a competitive but a very vibrant and dynamic EV market.
Today in many many markets it is the ‘new age EV companies’ that are industry leaders in not just innovation and tech, but in absolute volumes and market shares. Aligned with the PLI’s vision, it is these ‘startups and new age EV companies’ that are investing hundred, even thousands of crores in most new manufacturing capacities for EVs. For example at Ather we have already employed more than 4000 people directly and tens of thousands indirectly in our channels and supply chains. We have invested thousands of crores in RnD and direct capex and on top of this we are now investing 2000 crores in our new green field facility in Maharasthra. This is literally what PLI was hoping as an outcome and is being realized by a non-PLI holder, against all odds.
And most crucially, they are doing all this while also investing heavily in R&D and domestic value addition (DVA). DVA benchmarks are similar across PLI and non PLI players so it would be wrong to assume that startups don’t lead DVA requirements. These companies have consistently pushed deeper on indigenous development, building capabilities that are at par with, and in some cases ahead of, the broader industry.
An EV policy architecture that defines champions primarily through legacy scale, not even scale within the EV industry, can create an unintended imbalance. It places emerging EV manufacturers at a 13 to 16 percent cost disadvantage at a stage where they are continuing to invest heavily in capability building. Over time, this will influence how the market evolves, even as the goal is to build both scale and future ready capability.
In this train of EV industry if legacy businesses are the bogeys, startups and new age companies are the engine. You cannot take the engine out of the equation and hope for the bogeys to move forward themselves.
If India’s ambition is to lead in electric mobility, policy needs to recognise where innovation and capability are being built. Much of the work around indigenous platforms, battery systems, software, and domestic value addition is happening within electric first companies, and they will continue to set global benchmarks in design and technology.
What is needed is calibration of PLI, not overhaul. More flexible eligibility, aligned with localisation and R&D intensity, can help ensure we are building long term capability, not just near term scale.
Only 24 hours left until our webinar on "Empowering Communities with EV Charging"!
Join us to dive into how EV charging transforms urban environments. Secure your spot now!
https://t.co/ZLRrooXBOB
#Webinar#EVCharging#BoltEarth
Exciting news!
Our Co-founder @mohit_bolt had the incredible opportunity to showcase our product demo to H'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi!
His interest in our cutting-edge tech is a testament to the impact we aim to make in the clean energy space.
#CleanTech#Innovation
@PalAbinash Thank you sir for trying our product and for your valuable feedback. We've taken a note of the same and would try to incorporate in future OTA updates. It might take some time as we prioritise stability over new feature updates.
Successful hardware startups in India are rare. Without a preexisting ecosystem like China’s, Indian tech businesses are forced to import white-labelled products or spend years in R&D to build something from scratch. This is the story of one company that did the latter 🧵
We're partnering up with Forest capital to invest INR 200 Crore in bringing 15K electric 2Ws and 3Ws, along with 500 #fastcharging stations to the last-mile delivery ecosystem in India. Read the full article here: https://t.co/J3EWmdPXiL
@mohit_bolt@jyoti_bolt
.@Bolt_Earth has surpassed installing 30,000 #EV charging points on its charging network, and is growing at around 500 charging points monthly. 🛵🔌
Read more 👇🏻
https://t.co/fEnrlKOPPI
@mohit_bolt@jyoti_bolt
@0mkarMhatre@bolt_earth@TheSwamy Hi, this has been identified and fixed in app update 2.1.0, would request you to update the app and let us know if the issue has been resolved.
Please tag @bolt_earth in case you're still facing this issue.
@elonmusk@Google does the same, if they reject your app, it's difficult to get in touch with a human. Even after you are able to interface with a human, their replies are the same boilerplate comments that the system had sent earlier. No proper explanation whatsoever.
A few months back I interviewed @mohit_bolt on @mcjpod as one of my 1st turns behind the🎙:
https://t.co/Y3Wm38BGhF
@bolt_earth is the largest EV charger network in India.
Today I'm happy to share that this eventually led to an @mcjcollective investment!
https://t.co/Omd48oDtVQ
Safety and security are going to be crucial to the success of EVs & the need for the Bolt Chargers & Charging Networks is becoming more & more obvious to users as well as to the ecosystem @TheSwamy shares why Prime invested in @bolt_earth https://t.co/HoYwjgmn0Q
I loved chatting with @mohit_bolt about his approach to scaling electric mobility throughout India and the emerging markets with @bolt_earth.
Climate change is a global problem.
Today’s guest is @mohit_bolt, co-founder of @bolt_earth, India's largest EV charging network.
We cover:
🔌 BOLT’s software & hardware technology
🏍 The company’s peer-to-peer approach
🇮🇳 India’s renewable energy sources
& more! Enjoy the show: https://t.co/uspk5Drdxo