Electric scooter startup Ather Energy is in discussions with several state governments on its third unit, said Swapnil Jain, co-founder and chief technology officer of the company.

Ather on Wednesday opened its second manufacturing facility at Hosur, Tamil Nadu. The second facility spread across 300,000 sq ft will take the company’s production capacity to 420,000 units per annum.

A battery manufacturing plant, which is at the same facility, will have a capacity of 4,30,000 units.

Talking of investment in the plants, Jain said: “We committed to invest Rs 650 crore over five years in Tamil Nadu of which Rs 620 crore has already been invested.”

Ather, which is at 50 per cent utilisation of its capacity at present, says it will reach 100 per cent utilisation by March 2024 and will have 65 per cent utilisation by the end of this financial year.

The company has two products, the Ather 450X and the 450 Plus, which sell for Rs1.5 lakh and Rs 1.27 lakh, respectively.

Ather sold 8,213 units in October, registering a 122 percent growth year-on-year. In April Ather sold 3200 units.

“October is our best month yet. Within two quarters, sales have grown three times. And as I see it, sales will continue to grow,” said Jain.

While it retailed 23,000 units in FY22, it has sold 35,000 units till October FY23.

The company plans to sell 20,000-25,000 units per month by the end of FY23. Electric two-wheeler scooter penetration has grown to 14-15 per cent from 4-5 per cent in 2021.