India's electric vehicle market has hit a turning point. For years the question was whether buyers would show up. Today the question is whether factories can build fast enough. Mahindra, Tata Motors, Ather Energy and Bajaj Auto all report the same problem: order books are full but production lines cannot keep up. The result is longer waiting periods for customers and a scramble by manufacturers to add capacity.
The numbers tell a clear story. Mahindra's electric SUV capacity stood at about 8,000 units a month at the end of March 2026, while demand has climbed to 10,000 to 11,000 units. R Velusamy, managing director of Mahindra Electric Automobile, said the company could sell another 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles monthly if supply constraints eased. The company plans to raise capacity to 12,000 units a month by the end of the current financial year, with additional manufacturing capacity coming from the fourth quarter of FY27.
Tata Motors faces an even wider gap. Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, stated that EV demand is nearly three times available supply. EVs now make up about 25 percent of Tata's passenger vehicle sales, up from 14 percent a year ago. Chandra expects supply to catch up in two to three months, though no specific capacity figure has been disclosed.
On the two-wheeler side, Ather Energy reports that monthly demand is almost double what it can supply. Chief executive Tarun Mehta said the company leaves roughly 18,000 to 20,000 retail sales on the table each month because of production limits. Current capacity is about 35,000 units a month, with plans to reach 80,000 to 95,000 monthly as new plants in Maharashtra come online. Ather aims to lift annual capacity from 420,000 to 920,000 units through its AURIC facility, with a longer-term target of 1.14 million units by the second quarter of FY28 backed by a Rs 122 crore investment.
Bajaj Auto's Chetak scooter production hit 40,000 units in September against a plan of 60,000, a 33 percent shortfall blamed on capacity constraints. The company plans to raise monthly output from about 62,000 to 80,000 by the fourth quarter of FY27, with annual capacity growing from 625,000 to about 775,000 units over six to nine months.
Why Factories Cannot Simply Run Faster
Adding capacity in the auto industry is not like turning a tap. New production lines need tooling, validation and quality checks that take quarters, not weeks. More critically, an EV plant is only as fast as its slowest supplier. Battery cells, traction motors, power electronics and control boards must all arrive on schedule. If one vendor hits a ceiling, the whole line slows. Bajaj has explicitly tied its expansion to higher vendor output, and Mahindra refers to supply constraints in the plural. Tata's CEO speaks of ramping supply rather than just adding assembly space.
Mahindra's BE6 and XEV 9e deliveries have faced an additional hurdle: software refinement. Early test drivers found the vehicles too powerful for those unfamiliar with instant electric torque. The company chose to delay deliveries and install a new default driving mode that rebalances power delivery, torque mapping and suspension settings. Only 238 units from the first 4,000 needed a dealer patch, but the decision reflects a quality-first approach. Delivery itself is also slower — each handover takes at least two hours to onboard customers on companion apps and digital features, creating a bottleneck at dealerships.
What This Means for Buyers
When supply runs behind demand, pricing power shifts to manufacturers. Discounts disappear and waiting lists grow. Customers who need a vehicle soon may find themselves choosing between a long wait for a preferred brand or quicker delivery from a rival with spare capacity. The practical step is to ask dealers for a written delivery estimate before paying a deposit, and to treat any date beyond the first quarter of 2027 with caution since the major capacity additions from Mahindra and Bajaj are scheduled for the fourth quarter of FY27. Ather's larger ramp arrives later, in the second quarter of FY28.
The Supplier Story
Component makers that can scale quickly will win larger orders. The revenue growth seen at firms like Sona Comstar shows how EV volumes flow down the chain. Conversely, suppliers that cannot keep pace become the new bottleneck, forcing carmakers to seek alternatives. Investors should watch monthly registration data against stated capacity, the pace of Ather's AURIC commissioning, and any revision to Bajaj's capacity targets.
Timeline for Relief
Mahindra expects supply constraints to ease by the third quarter of FY27 (October to December 2026), with additional capacity from the fourth quarter. The 12,000-unit monthly target is due by the end of the financial year. Bajaj aims for 80,000 Chetak units a month by the same quarter. Tata has indicated two to three months for supply to catch up. Ather's biggest step, 1.14 million units annual capacity, is targeted for the second quarter of FY28. Until these milestones are hit, waiting times are likely to stay long.
The risk to this outlook is a sudden demand slowdown. If orders cool before new capacity arrives, the shortage story fades. For now, every executive quote points the same way: demand is strong, supply is the constraint, and the race is on to build faster.
FAQs
Is India EV demand really higher than supply?
Yes. Mahindra reports demand of 10,000 to 11,000 units a month against capacity of about 8,000. Tata says demand is nearly three times supply. Ather's chief executive cites 18,000 to 20,000 unrealised retail sales monthly. Bajaj built 40,000 Chetak scooters in September against a plan of 60,000.
How many EVs can Mahindra build each month?
About 8,000 electric SUVs a month as of end of March 2026. The company plans to reach 12,000 a month by the end of the current financial year, with extra capacity arriving from the fourth quarter of FY27.
Is Tata Motors at maximum production capacity?
The sources do not confirm that. Tata's CEO has acknowledged supply constraints and expects supply to catch up in two to three months, but no capacity figure has been disclosed.
What is Ather Energy's planned capacity?
Ather plans to raise annual production from 420,000 units to 920,000 units through its AURIC facility in Maharashtra. A further investment of Rs 122 crore targets 1.14 million units annual capacity by the second quarter of FY28 across its Hosur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar plants.
When will waiting times for EVs in India shrink?
Mahindra and Bajaj target meaningful capacity additions by the fourth quarter of FY27 (January to March 2027). Tata expects relief in two to three months. Ather's largest ramp arrives in the second quarter of FY28. Delays in any plan would extend the timeline.
