A few EV makers in India went belly up after the government abruptly scaled back incentives and cracked down on the misuse of subsidies. Ather survived the storm and sales are increasing. More than 70% of the 200 million registered vehicles in India are two-wheelers. Ather Energy builds e-scooters for the rising middle class that could help commuters ditch highly-polluting, gas-guzzling models. While sales of Tesla or BYD cars drove electric vehicle adoption elsewhere in the world, two-wheelers have led the green energy transition in India. As one of the earliest "pure play" e-scooter makers, Ather Energy has helped drive micromobility EV penetration throughout India and boosted the shift away from carbon-emitting vehicles.

BENGALURU: Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, the poster boys of Indian ecommerce, are brazenly betting on so-called moonshot ideas, backing early-stage technology companies working in areas such as healthcare and otherwise struggling to raise money from traditional investors. The latest such company the Flipkart cofounders have backed is Pandorum Technologies, which has found a way to 3D-print experimental-stage human liver tissues in a laboratory. The two Bansals are also finalising another investment in a startup that makes implants, which would mark their fourth funding deal into a healthcare startup. Overall, one-fourth of the two dozen or so companies in their combined investment portfolios are working on similar deep technology ideas, making the Bansals a rare breed of investors not averse to taking risky bets that can spur truly disruptive innovation. "In India, core sectors like healthcare, education and supply chain will be disrupted (by emerging) technology... Those (startups) don't get funding easily while consumer internet companies do," Binny Bansal said.