logo
Matter Motor Works plans to launch one electric bike annually over next 3 years

Matter Motor Works plans to launch one electric bike annually over next 3 years

Time of India4 days ago
Matter Motor Works is set to launch a new electric motorcycle model annually for the next three years, aiming to boost volume growth. Following the Delhi launch of its AERA electric bike, the company plans to establish up to 60 dealerships nationwide this fiscal year, with a strong focus on South India.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Popular in Renewables
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Electric motorcycle maker Matter Motor Works plans to launch one new model every year in the next three years as it looks to accelerate volume growth, its Co-founder and Group COO Arun Pratap Singh said on Thursday.The Ahmedabad-based company, which on Thursday launched its geared electric bike AERA in the Delhi market, plans to open up to 60 dealerships across the country this fiscal, with the majority of them in South India, Singh told PTI here."There are products planned, at least a new launch every year. So that's what we can see for the next three years," he said when asked about the company's product pipeline.He said the company is focusing on electric motorcycles only at present and is not looking at electric scooters "as of now".On the company's first model AERA, he said, "We took almost six years to develop the vehicle. We started deliveries in October last year."The company had confined sales in the Ahmedabad market for the first six months to study consumer feedback and made "small tinkering", he noted."Now we are moving across India to start deliveries," Singh said.On sales network expansion, he said, "We are ramping up. We are planning to set up almost 30 dealerships by August, and we should be closing almost 50 to 60 dealerships by this financial year end."He further said, "From the distribution side, we have a larger presence coming up in South India. Out of the 30 dealerships (by August), 20 dealerships will be coming in the South."The segment in which the company is present is more popular in South India, he noted.In terms of sales, Singh said, "We intend to close around 10,000 vehicles in the first year. Second year, it should be around 50,000 to 60,000 vehicles and beyond that, it is difficult to project."The company's manufacturing unit in Ahmedabad has a capacity to roll out 10,000 units a month.When asked about investments, he said the company is utilising funds of up to USD 80 million that it has already raised.Singh reiterated that Matter is looking to raise a further USD 200 million in the next couple of years before it looks for an initial public offering in three to four years' time.When asked about supply constraints of rare earth magnets, he said that currently, the company is in talks with its partners in China to resolve the issue."But parallelly, we are also looking at alternatives so that we do not get into this kind of situation next time," Singh said.Stating that there are companies outside the Chinese region which have permanent magnets without rare earth minerals, he said, "We have started talking to them and the results will come out soon."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

FM discusses issues of bilateral cooperation with Russian, Chinese counterparts
FM discusses issues of bilateral cooperation with Russian, Chinese counterparts

The Print

time31 minutes ago

  • The Print

FM discusses issues of bilateral cooperation with Russian, Chinese counterparts

During a meeting with Anton Siluanov, Finance Minister of Russia, Sitharaman expressed gratitude for the support extended by President Vladimir Putin after the Pahalgam terror attack, the finance ministry said in a post on X. These meetings were held on the sidelines of the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Rio de Janeiro. New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a series of bilateral meetings, including with Russian and Chinese counterparts, and discussed issues of bilateral cooperation and interests. The two leaders discussed India-Russia long-standing partnership. The finance minister observed that India and Russia enjoy exemplary levels of mutual trust and understanding and our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership remains resilient and steadfast, it said. The two sides also discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, including cooperation in the financial sector, along with matters related to NDB. In another bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart Lan Fo'an, both leaders discussed strengthening collaboration across a wide range of areas due to the common rich human capital, deep civilisational ties, and expanding economic influence. The two leaders recalled their last meeting in Samarkand in September 2024 on the sidelines of the AIIB Annual Meetings, another post by the finance ministry said. Sitharaman underlined that India and China are uniquely positioned to drive inclusive global growth and innovation as the two nations are the largest and fastest-growing economies in the world. The finance minister suggested that deeper engagement between the two countries can help amplify the voice of developing economies, and shape global narratives that reflect the priorities and aspirations of the global South, it said. During bilateral meeting with Thomas Djiwandono, Vice Finance Minister of Indonesia, Sitharaman said India looks forward to hosting the Indonesia Economic and Financial Dialogue soon. She also thanked Indonesia for their support in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, a separate post on X by the finance ministry said. The two leaders also discussed BRICS, UPI, and RuPay, G20, MDB Reforms, bilateral trade, tourism, FinTech and financial markets, it said. In the bilateral meeting with Finance Minister of Brazil Fernando Haddad, she discussed issues of bilateral interests. The two leaders discussed issues of mutual interest, including South-South cooperation, amplifying the voice of the Global South, COP30, and climate finance issues, and engagement in regional and global forums such as the United Nations, G20, BRICS, WTO and IBSA, the finance ministry said in another social media post. Appreciating the deep work by Brazil during its BRICS Chairship, including commitment to a multipolar world order, and expansion of BRICS, Sitharaman said India supports the agenda and priorities set by Brazil, and hopes to carry forward the outcome-oriented cooperation when India takes over the Chairship in January 2026. She said India and Brazil, as strategic partners, share warm and cordial ties spanning across multiple sectors, and are cooperating closely in multiple sectors to further strengthen strategic partnership. PTI DP TRB This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

Investment of USD 75 bn needed for Indian farmers to adapt to climate change impact: IFAD President
Investment of USD 75 bn needed for Indian farmers to adapt to climate change impact: IFAD President

The Print

time31 minutes ago

  • The Print

Investment of USD 75 bn needed for Indian farmers to adapt to climate change impact: IFAD President

Asked about the impact of climate change on the rural sectors, especially on small and marginal farmers, Lario said it's a key focus. In an interview to PTI, Lario said for IFAD in India, the three big questions are, 'how do we make agriculture more remunerative for farmers, how do we enhance productivity at the same time as we're tackling a lot of the climate shocks and how do we move from food security to nutrition security.' Founded in 1977 in response to a global food crisis, IFAD is a specialised United Nations agency and an international financial institution that tackles hunger and poverty in rural communities. New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) Investments worth around USD 75 billion is required for small-scale farmers in India to adapt to the impact of climate change, and bringing finance to rural areas is a critical challenge ahead for rural communities across the world and in India, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Alvaro Lario said. 'Small-scale farmers need approximately at least 75 billion US dollars to adapt to many of these climate shocks,' Lario told PTI. According to the 10th agriculture census of 2015-16, small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares of land account for 86.2 per cent of all farmers in India, but own just 47.3 per cent of the farming land. 'In case of India we're seeing seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures, more frequent droughts, so there's a lot of investments that can actually support these small-scale farmers globally. In global climate finance, what we're seeing is that these small-scale producers, hundreds of millions of rural people, are only receiving less than one per cent of the overall global climate finance,' he said. Lario lauded schemes like 'soil health card', and said it gives farmers personalised recommendations on how they can improve their soil health, as well as incentives to adopt treat irrigation and other water-saving technologies. 'The challenges remain and we're seeing that many of the farmers are still struggling to adopt some of the climate smart practices. So still we need to continue investing, we are investing with the government at the central and state levels in India,' he said. 'For example in Maharashtra, in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, where we are bringing too many of these investments climate resilient practices that combine sustainability but also with income,' he said. He said it's important to focus on how these small-scale farmers can continue increasing their income through crop diversification, improved water management, or micro irrigation systems, and also creating community seed banks or using drought tolerant seeds. 'All of this is really gonna have a translation into better lives and better incomes,' he said. Lario said IFAD's priority is to mobilise financing, especially long-term financing for rural areas and deliver a long-lasting impact for those who need it most. 'We know that agriculture accounts for around 20 per cent of GDP in India and it employs around 42 per cent of the workforce. So even though there has been a lot of progress, we believe that continuing investing in pro-poor inclusive value chain and connecting small-scale producers to markets continues to be fundamental,' he said. He also stressed on bringing private capital into the sector. 'We're also trying to bring private capital, private local companies with the government by really bringing a partnership of the public, the private, and the producers themselves. We're also adopting agro-ecological approaches that are currently supporting commercially viable and sustainable value chains so that once more the goal is to improve the income of small-scale farmers and also the resilience to shock,' he said. Lario gave the example of Meghalaya, where IFAD has promoted and incubated a number of market-driven enterprises which are offering agri-entrepreneurs incubation, mentoring, credit, and access to markets. In Mizoram, he said, IFAD is promoting integrated farming, bringing together crops, livestock, agroforestry, in community-led clusters. 'We're introducing weather-based crop planning which is also enabling farmers to align the sowing with the rainfall forecast thereby reducing climate risk,' he said. He said IFAD was the first UN funded programme which received two credit ratings, and currently they're issuing bonds that are being bought by pension funds and central banks all over the world. 'We are also bringing capital and investment, especially private capital to these rural areas,' he said. 'We're currently using our own financing to co-invest with the private sector by directly investing in agri-enterprises, in local financial institutions and in value chain institutions that are very much serving small holder farmers,' he said. Lario further said the strategy is very much aligned with the Indian government's approach and over decades. According to IFAD, it has invested over USD 1.5 billion in India in the last 45 years, reaching over 6 million families. 'Our focus has been very much on investing in women, in tribal communities, small-scale producers and also on strengthening community institutions,' he added. PTI AO HVA This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

Ball in Washington's court on India-US interim trade agreement before July 9: Sources
Ball in Washington's court on India-US interim trade agreement before July 9: Sources

The Print

time32 minutes ago

  • The Print

Ball in Washington's court on India-US interim trade agreement before July 9: Sources

'India has drawn its red lines… now the ball is in the US court,' they said. They said if issues are settled, an interim trade pact could be announced before July 9, which marks the end of the 90-day suspension period of the Trump tariffs announced on April 2 on dozens of countries, including India. New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) With India setting its red lines on key issues in sectors such as agriculture and dairy for the proposed interim trade agreement with the US, the ball is now in Washington's court to finalise the deal, sources said. In February, the two countries announced starting negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). They fixed a deadline to conclude the first tranche or phase of the BTA by fall (September-October) this year. Before that, the two sides are locking to finalise an interim trade pact. On April 2, the US imposed an additional 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods but suspended it for 90 days. However, the 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed by America remains in place. India is seeking full exemption from this 26 per cent tariff. 'If the proposed trade talks fail, the 26 per cent tariffs will come into force again,' one of the sources said. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal last week stated that India does not enter into any trade agreement based on deadlines and will accept the proposed trade deal with the US only when it is fully finalised, properly concluded and in the national interest. FTAs are possible only when both sides get benefitted and it should be a win-win agreement, he has said. 'National interest should always be supreme. Keeping that in mind, if a deal is made then India is always ready to deal with developed countries,' Goyal had said on July 4. The Indian team returned from Washington last week after holding talks with the US on an interim trade pact. Differences are also there on steel, aluminium (50 per cent) and auto (25 per cent) tariffs. India has hardened its position on giving duty concessions to the US on agriculture and dairy products as both are sensitive subjects. India has never opened the dairy sector in any of the previous trade pacts signed. US President Donald Trump last week said his administration is sending letters to the first batch of 10-12 countries, sharing details of reciprocal tariff rates and the entire process could be completed by July 9. His comments came amid increasing suspense in India on whether New Delhi and Washington would be able to firm up a much-anticipated trade deal before the US president's tariff deadline ends. He has, however, not named the countries. The president has stated that the reciprocal tariffs would come into effect from August 1. While the US is looking at duty concessions in sectors like certain industrial goods, automobiles (electric vehicles particularly), wines, petrochemical products, dairy, and agriculture items such as apples, tree nuts, and alfalfa hay; India may look at duty cuts for labour-intensive sectors like apparels, textiles, gems and jewellery, leather, plastics, chemicals, oil seeds, shrimp, and horticulture products. The US is India's largest trading partner from 2021-22. During 2024-25, the bilateral trade in goods stood at USD 131.84 billion (USD 86.51 billion worth of exports, USD 45.33 billion of imports and USD 41.18 billion trade surplus). India's merchandise exports to the US rose 21.78 per cent to USD 17.25 billion in April-May this fiscal year, while imports rose 25.8 per cent to USD 8.87 billion. The two-way trade in services expanded from USD 54.1 billion in 2018 to an estimated USD 70.5 billion in 2024. India is also a key destination for American businesses such as professional, scientific, and technical services, manufacturing, and IT. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports and over 6 per cent in imports and about 11 per cent in bilateral trade. India received USD 70.65 billion between April 2000 and March 2025, making Washington the third largest investor. In 2024, India's main exports to the US included drug formulations and biologicals (USD 8.1 billion), telecom instruments (USD 6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones (USD 5.3 billion), petroleum products (USD 4.1 billion), gold and other precious metal jewellery (USD 3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton, including accessories (USD 2.8 billion), and products of iron and steel (USD 2.7 billion). Imports included crude oil (USD 4.5 billion), petroleum products (USD 3.6 billion), coal, coke (USD 3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds (USD 2.6 billion), electric machinery (USD 1.4 billion), aircraft, spacecraft and parts (USD 1.3 billion), and gold (USD 1.3 billion). PTI RR TRB This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store