Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Ather Energy is likely to invest Rs 650 crore in expanding the capacity of its brand new plant in Hosur by five times from 1,10,000 units annually to 500,000 units by the end of 2022.

The company will derive the required funds from private equity investors, with Hero Group and Tiger Global being its two primary promoters.

It is looking to increase its reach from 13 cities to 50 and 100 cities by the end of FY 22 and FY 23, respectively.

“We are also expanding our own fast-charging infrastructure from 140 to 500 by the end of this year. We will also expand the capacity of the new Hosur plant to 500,000 per annum,” company co-founder Tushar Mehta was quoted in a report by Business Standard.

Ather Energy is reportedly looking to counter Ola Electric’s massive investment of Rs 2,400 crore to put together a plan and thereby manufacture 10 million units of e-scooters annually from 2022 onward.

Ather has also put in Rs 1,000 crore towards developing the scooter indigenously via its research and development (R&D) centre.

It even designs and manufactures the battery pack in India. The company firmly believes that the increased subsidies announced through the new FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid Electric Vehicles) policy have cut down pricing between internal combustion engines (ICE) and electric scooters.

“As a result of another Rs 15,000 reduction due to the increase in subsidy, the difference between the price of our scooter 450 Plus and a 125 cc ICE engine scooter is now Rs 5,000-8,000. In Delhi because of local state subsidies it is even lower. And then you save about Rs 2000 on fuel per month. So the inflexion point has come,” Mehta further added.