Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal’s comments last month that Indian startups were doing very little in the realm of deeptech may have ruffled a few feathers, but it struck a nerve for a reason. Well, by now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that India is miles behind its more advanced peers like the US and China.

Now, there may be plenty of explanations — funding gaps, limited R&D, policy conundrums — but the hard truth is that India’s deeptech euphoria has been built on shaky grounds. While many of us may agree to disagree (yet again), a major case in point is the Indian startup electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem.

Let’s understand how, but first…

India’s EV Startup Legacy In A Snapshot

About a decade ago, in 2015, the Indian government rolled out a subsidy plan — the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) — for the then-nascent EV sector. The scheme was aimed at promoting hybrid and electric vehicle technologies in India.

The government’s intent around EVs was clear, and the industry eagerly bought into the vision. Consequently, investments and funding started pouring in, and EV startups began to spring up. What sweetened the pot was government subsidies, which fuelled the adoption of two- and three-wheeler EVs. And as the demand rose, more players mushroomed in the sector to cater to a new breed of transportation.

During this time, a large portion of new EV startups were either producing scooters or three-wheelers in the L3 and L5 segments.

As per Vahan data, by 2019, there were a total of around 450 registered EV companies that were selling in India. These included startups like Ather Energy, Euler Motors, Ampere Vehicles, HOP Motors, and Okinawa Autotech, among others.

By 2022, this number increased to more than 560 EV companies, with the likes of Ola Electric, Bounce, EVage Motors, and Omega Seiki joining the race.

From the very look of it, one would feel that the country’s EV startup landscape was on the right track and was ready to take off. While this did happen, traditional automotive giants decided to clutter the space, posing a threat to their younger peers.

As expected, weak links could not survive and perished. For instance, the likes of Okinawa, Hero Electric, Pure EV, and Jitendra EV, among a dozen others, slowly perished amid the Centre’s crackdown on the usage of Chinese parts. With the rise of legacy players like TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto, the only native EV startup that has been able to stand tall against the headwinds posed by the old titans is Ola Electric.

However, once seen as a strong challenger in the Indian EV space, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led EV maker has started to lose its sheen.

The startup that was once selling more than 30K to........

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