Ather’s CEO Tarun Mehta counters govt stance on PLI, says startups are ‘engine’ of EV shift The debate around India’s auto production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has intensified, with Tarun Mehta, CEO of Ather Energy, challenging the government’s position that startups are not the intended beneficiaries of the program. Mehta argued that the current framework of the PLI scheme is misaligned with the realities of India’s electric vehicle (EV) transition, emphasizing that startups and new-age EV companies have been instrumental in building the electric two-wheeler ecosystem over the past decade. Earlier this week, a senior government official clarified that the PLI scheme is designed for “global champions,” with eligibility criteria including revenue of Rs 10,000 crore and fixed assets of Rs 3,000 crore. These thresholds, the official stated, exclude electric-first companies and most EV startups like Ather Energy, River Motors, and Euler Motors. Mehta countered that such high thresholds are outdated and fail to recognize the contributions of startups, which have invested heavily in product development, software, power electronics, and localisation without the advantages of legacy scale. In a detailed post, Mehta highlighted that startups are already delivering outcomes that the PLI scheme aims to incentivise. He cited Ather’s investments, including thousands of crores in R&D and manufacturing, over 4,000 direct jobs, and a planned Rs 2,000 crore greenfield facility in Maharashtra, as evidence of their role in capacity creation and localisation. He argued that excluding startups from the PLI framework creates a structural disadvantage, with estimates suggesting a 13–16% cost gap between PLI beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries.#maharashtra #ather_energy #tarun_mehta #pli_scheme #euler_motors
