Tesla’s former India policy chief is joining domestic electric vehicle start-up Ather, one of the best-funded fledgling companies in the sector attracting record investment.
Manuj Khurana who dropped his post as Tesla’s The local head of policy and business development in June, will start next week at the company based in the southern tech hub of Bangalore, a person with knowledge of the matter said. with Bloomberg News. Khurana will join as vice president, although his specific role there is unclear, the person said, declining to be named because the matter has not been made public.
Athercompete with local rivals including Ola Palace, this year has raised $128 million (approximately Rs 1,050) from investors including Hero Moto and India’s National Infrastructure & Investment Fund. It is among a number of players vying for a share of the market that is expected to surpass $150 billion (about Rs 12,33,900 crore) by the end of the decade – about 400 times the current size of it.
Representatives for the startup did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indian consumers are expected to be drawn to electric vehicles as the country fends off some of the world’s worst pollution. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, venture capital and private investment in India’s electric mobility companies is on track to surpass the $1 billion mark (about 8,225 crore) for the first time in 2022 as sales rise sales increased steadily.
Khurana joins Tesla in March 2021. American electric car maker, run by billionaire Elon Musk, has faced a series of challenges in India over import taxes and a local factory. It seeks lower tariffs in India so it can test the market by selling cheaper imported electric vehicles before committing to a manufacturing facility of its own.
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