Ather Energy sees 50% rise in Q3 revenue; A brandy giant betting on luxury whisky

Hello,

TVS is kicking off 2026 on a high note.

The legacy automaker posted the highest-ever monthly sales of its electric two-wheelers in January—coming in at 31,731 units, commanding a 28.8% market share. 

The company also closed 2025 strong by selling the most number of EVs in 2025.

Ola Electric, on the other hand, has had a dramatic fall from grace, from being the market leader for electric two-wheelers last January to coming in last among its peers this year.  

In other news, remember when Geoffrey Hinton, the Godfather of AI, said that jobs involving physical labour were AI-proof? Not if new-age startups have anything to say about it. 

AI startups are raising billions to develop software brains for robots that could work anywhere from oil rigs to construction sites. 

Lastly, meet the new winners of the 68th Grammy Awards. From Kendrick Lamar sweeping five categories to Bad Bunny making Grammy history as the first Latin artist to win album of the year, the night was one for the books.

Also, catch today’s piece on an entrepreneur’s extraordinary journey from building a terrace startup to running a $300 million empire, all from his hometown of Trichy, Tamil Nadu. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Ather Energy sees 50% rise in Q3 revenue
• A brandy giant betting on luxury whisky
• AI to solve farm labour crisis

Here’s your trivia for today: What did Nestle freeze dry in 1938 that led to the development of powdered food products?

Electric Mobility

Ather Energy sees 50% rise in Q3 revenue

Ather Energy reported a 50.1% rise in revenue on the back of surging sales of its electric two-wheelers. The company reported a revenue from operations of Rs 953.6 crore in the three months ended December 31, compared with Rs 634.9 crore in the year-ago period. 

Key takeaways:

• The EV maker also managed to narrow its losses by 57.7% to Rs 83.6 crore.
• Ather Energy sold 62,265 units during the quarter—the highest it has sold in a three-month timeline—compared to 39,744 units sold in the year-ago period. 
• The company’s growth outlook looks strong based on its new low-cost EL platform, expected to launch later this year. Ather is banking on the better price point it will offer and its flexibility to achieve inroads into North Indian markets in particular.

MSME

A brandy giant betting on luxury whisky

For decades, Tilaknagar Industries (TI) has been synonymous with brandy in India. In the 1980s, it entered branded spirits with Mansion House Brandy. Today, Mansion House is the largest-selling brandy in India and the second-largest worldwide, cementing TI’s reputation as a brandy-first company. 

In 2025, the company formally established House of TI as its luxury vertical, housing Monarch Legacy Edition and, more recently, Seven Islands Pure Malt Whisky.

Spirited away:

• Seven Islands marks TI’s long-awaited and serious entry into whisky, India’s most aspirational and largest spirit category, with over 60% of market volumes. Named after the seven islands that once formed Bombay, the whisky draws inspiration from the city’s history of convergence and reinvention.
• Launched in Maharashtra at Rs 5,200 a bottle, the brand is expected to expand to two to three more domestic markets this financial year and reach near pan-India distribution by the next.
• The luxury push is unfolding alongside one of the most significant transactions in the Indian alcobev space. TI recently announced the acquisition of the Imperial Blue whisky portfolio from Pernod Ricard—one of the largest deals in the sector.

Startup

AI to solve farm labour crisis

Azhaan Merchant saw a massive labour shortage in India’s farming sector after examining various horticulture value chains across rural Maharashtra. While much of the industry was trying to compensate for the shortage through mechanisation, Merchant understood that this approach was neither cost-effective nor practical. 

Instead, he believed the solution lay in technology—in rethinking how agricultural labour is discovered, deployed, and managed at scale. That conviction led Merchant, who, along with Gourav Sanghai, founded Bharat Intelligence.

News & updates

• Metals: President Donald Trump will launch a strategic critical-minerals stockpile with $12 billion in seed money to insulate manufacturers from supply shocks. The venture, dubbed Project Vault, will marry $1.67 billion in private capital with a $10 billion loan from the US Export-Import Bank to procure and store rare earth minerals for automakers, tech firms, and other manufacturers.
• Slump: Gold and silver prices have continued to fall after a dramatic reversal of a rally that had pushed precious metals to record highs. Spot gold prices fell nearly 10% at one point while silver slumped by 15% before both metals recovered some ground.
• AI plans: Oracle shares fell about 4% in premarket trading, after it outlined plans to raise $45 billion to $50 billion this ​year to expand its cloud infrastructure, fueling investor concerns about ‌its rising debt load. The software company said the fundraising was aimed at expanding cloud capacity to meet contracted demand from major customers such as AMD, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, TikTok, and xAI.

What did Nestle freeze dry in 1938 that led to the development of powdered food products?

Answer: Coffee

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