Greaves Cotton, a leading diversified engineering company, has announced the appointment of Ramachandra Puttanna as the new Business Head for EV Solutions & New Businesses within Greaves Retail.

In his new role, Puttanna will be responsible for driving the strategic growth plan for Greaves Retail’s electric vehicle (EV) components and new verticals. He will report to Narasimha Jayakumar, CEO, Greaves Retail, as Greaves continues to advance its strategy in sustainable mobility solutions across India.  

Greaves Retail is focussing on being a fuel-agnostic provider, delivering comprehensive sales, service, and spare parts solutions across three-wheelers (3W), two-wheelers (2W), small commercial vehicles (SCVs), electric vehicles (EVs), and construction equipment.

The company specialises in ensuring high vehicle uptime and maximised asset productivity, positioning it among the top three in the aftermarket segment. 

Puttanna come with over 35 years of extensive experience and has worked with companies such as Fenner India, Bosch India, Oman Trading, Magneti Marelli, and ZF Group.

Most recently, he served as Vice-President of the Aftermarket business at ZF Group, where he managed operations across India and the SAARC regions.

He is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from Mysore University, Puttanna has furthered his education with a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (Marketing) from Bangalore University and an Advanced Program in Business Management from IIM Bangalore.  

“I am honoured to join Greaves Cotton at this pivotal stage in the company’s journey towards sustainable mobility. I look forward to leveraging my experience to drive the growth of Greaves Retail’s new businesses and enhance our offerings for a broader range of customers,” said Puttanna.

Narasimha Jayakumar, CEO, Greaves Retail, said, “We are thrilled to have Ramachandra join us. His proven track record aligns well with our commitment to customer-centric, innovative solutions. Ramachandra’s leadership will be instrumental in advancing Greaves Retail’s new businesses.”

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Blue Energy Motors (BEM), a prominent manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) heavy-duty trucks, has attained a new milestone of crossing 100 million cumulative fleet green kilometres across India. The achievement highlights a growing shift within the country’s commercial logistics and freight transportation sectors toward lower-emission mobility alternatives.

The active fleet consists of more than 1,400 BEM heavy-duty trucks deployed across major nationwide freight routes. To date, this green trucking initiative has mitigated over 30,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, an environmental impact equivalent to the carbon absorption capacity of nearly 1.2 million trees.

To accelerate the transition away from traditional diesel reliance, Blue Energy Motors has established an integrated clean trucking ecosystem that combines alternative-fuel hardware with proprietary service models such as heavy-duty LNG trucks with up to 2,400km range on single fuel. For its electric truck line, Blue Energy Motors has deployed corridor-led charging networks and battery-swapping stations designed to eliminate range anxiety and charging-induced fleet downtime.

The proprietary swapping infrastructure allows a depleted truck battery to be mechanically replaced in under five minutes, optimising vehicle productivity for high-mileage commercial operations.

Blue Energy Motors utilises a structured EaaS business model to assist fleet operators by lowering upfront capital expenditure (CapEx) investments while enhancing day-to-day operating efficiencies and total fleet utilisation.

Anirudh Bhuwalka, Founder and Managing Director, Blue Energy Motors, said, “Crossing 100 million kilometres is a strong validation of where the future of freight mobility is headed. A few years ago, green-fuel trucking was still seen as an emerging idea. Today, fleet operators are actively looking at cleaner solutions that make sense not only from a sustainability perspective, but also operationally and commercially.”

“The recent volatility in global energy markets has highlighted a reality that freight operators can no longer ignore. Businesses that remain entirely dependent on diesel are becoming increasingly exposed to fuel-price shocks and supply uncertainties. Energy security, operating economics, and sustainability are no longer separate conversations. They are converging into a single business decision. We believe the next five years will witness one of the fastest transformations in the history of India’s trucking industry,” added Bhuwalka.

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Ahmedabad-based Samarth E-Mobility, a technology company, has announced the launch of its new electric mobility brand – Avore Electric. Debuting with the tagline ‘Intelligence Beyond Motion,’ the company said its product development philosophy focuses on engineering critical technology systems entirely in-house rather than assembling hardware from third-party suppliers.

Over a three-year development cycle, a team of more than 100 engineers at Samarth E-Mobility's dedicated R&D facility in Ahmedabad has developed over nine critical vehicle subsystems. This vertically integrated development framework is built on AVORE Source, the company's proprietary technology stack and the purpose-built AVR platform two-wheeler architecture.

The company's proprietary engineering portfolio includes a patented Battery Management System (BMS) and custom battery pack; the electric motor, motor controller and power control module. A DC-DC converter and an onboard fast charger. The digital display system and a proprietary vehicle operating system.

By controlling both hardware and software layers, the architecture enables over-the-air (OTA) software updates for continuous product improvements, faster system diagnostics and optimised performance. To protect its baseline engineering innovations, Samarth E-Mobility has filed more than 110 intellectual property applications to date.

Avore Electric’s upcoming range of electric motorcycles will target the 125cc–200cc segment, which represents one of the largest commuter and lifestyle demographics in the Indian two-wheeler market. The vehicles are being specifically engineered to withstand real-world Indian riding and environmental conditions, offering a practical, electric alternative for mainstream riders.

The brand's initial market-entry strategy will focus on component-level transparency, consumer education and product-led storytelling. While specific vehicle performance metrics and launch timelines have not yet been disclosed, product reveals and campaign rollouts are scheduled for the coming months.

Priyank Rakholiya, Co-Founder, Samarth E-Mobility, said, “For three years, we asked ourselves a simple question, why does India's most widely used personal vehicle incorporate so little intelligence. We realised the answer wasn't a missing feature, it was a missing commitment. True intelligence cannot be assembled from off-the-shelf components; it must be engineered from the ground up. That's why we built every critical system in-house. Engineering excellence in intelligence is not a claim for us; it's a methodology that shapes every decision we make.”

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Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer Simple Energy has closed its Series B funding round, securing INR 2.5 billion through a combination of debt and equity.

The funding round was led by the family office of Dr. Arokiaswamy Velumani, alongside Simple Energy’s Founder and CEO, Suhas Rajkumar, and Co-founder and CFO, Ankit Gupta. Financial institutions HDFC Bank and Capitar Ventures, along with other non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), served as debt partners, contributing INR 1.23 billion to the total capital raised.

The EV maker will direct the majority of the Series B proceeds toward manufacturing expansion and scaling up production capacity. The remaining capital is earmarked for sales, marketing and research and development (R&D) to advance its product roadmap and customer experience.

At present, Simple Energy operates at a manufacturing capacity of 3,000 units per month. The company has recently increased investment in its proprietary battery assembly lines, with the output ramp-up scheduled to take effect from August 2026.

To support its next growth phase, the company plans to increase its workforce across key departments, including production, sales and marketing.

The funding coincides with significant top-line growth for the electric vehicle (EV) startup. Simple Energy's annual revenue increased fourfold, rising from INR 400 million in FY2025 to INR 1.70 billion in FY2026.

The brand currently averages monthly sales of approximately 1,500 units. Its retail network comprises more than 71 outlets operating across 38 cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi, Patna and Chennai. As part of its immediate domestic expansion strategy, Simple Energy will shortly enter new markets, including Ranchi, Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack.

Simple Energy has set a target to achieve monthly sales of 10,000 electric scooters by March 2027.

Suhas Rajkumar, said, “The funding reflects strong investor confidence in Simple Energy. This will help us scale production, strengthen our Made-in-India manufacturing stack, and expand access to our long-range, performance-led scooters nationwide. We are seeing clear market demand, with revenues rising 4x from INR 400 million in FY’25 to INR 1.70 billion in FY’26. The funding amounts will be mainly directed towards capacity expansion, targeting monthly sales of 10,000 scooters by March 2027, alongside continued investments in R&D and marketing. This milestone marks Simple Energy’s transition from a homegrown startup to a full-stack EV OEM, reinforcing brand trust and readiness for a long-term path to public markets.”

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Bengaluru-based electric vehicle manufacturer Ola Electric has announced its sales performance for May 2026, selling 15,139 units, down 20 percent YoY.

This marks the third consecutive month of registration growth for the EV maker, with its May 2026 performance rising 23 percent MoM.

The company estimates that the industry volumes last month grew by approximately 15 percent from around 148,000 units in April 2026 to about 170,000 units in May 2026.

Ola Electric attributes the sales improvement to changes in front-end retail structures and improved operational execution across the network. Furthermore, an increase in domestic petrol price also indicates an accelerating market transition toward electric mobility.

"Ola Electric has delivered its third consecutive month of growth, with May registrations rising 23 percent MoM and significantly outpacing industry growth. The strong demand environment, coupled with increasing traction for our Roadster portfolio, has helped us maintain the growth momentum. We remain focused on accelerating EV adoption through innovative products, technology leadership and scale," said the company in a statement.

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