MAM
Vinu Lal joins The Good Edge as director
Mumbai: Vinu Lal joins The Good Edge as director Vinu Lal, who has worked with several national titles in financial journalism, has been appointed as director for The Good Edge. As part of the agency’s expansion in the western region, Vinu will set up the company’s Pune office with a mandate to develop that region.
A journalist-turned-entrepreneur, Vinu was most recently country head for New York-based IIICorp Inc. Since 2020, he has been on a sabbatical with random content assignments with London-based Capital.com and Hong Kong-based Insurance Asia News. As a Pearson scholar, Vinu was attached to the Companies Desk at Financial Times, London where he filed several news reports during an internship programme in 2008. With over two decades of experience, Vinu was earlier head of corporate Communications for ING Vysya Bank, where he managed both internal and external communications as well as CSR communications. During his stint, the bank had tied up with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to light up select villages, prone to human-wildlife conflict, in the Gajapati district of Orissa using renewable energy solutions.
Prior to ING, Vinu was senior assistant editor for Economic Times in Bangalore, responsible for corporate news with a primary focus on mergers and acquisitions. He has also handled business news for The Times of India and Indian Express in Mumbai. During his career, he had also served as Head of India Coverage for the London-based Financial Times Group’s news agency Mergermarket (now owned by ION Group) for around five years, primarily reporting on corporate strategies and mergers & acquisitions in the technology and infrastructure segments. Having begun his professional career in Mumbai, Vinu during his mid-career relocated to Bangalore where he mostly spent time on media-based business intelligence products and is also a familiar face among media in both these markets.
Mumbai Press Club member since the late nineties, Vinu has been actively involved in several ad hoc projects initiated by the Club and continues to do so. Vinu has a Master’s in English from Gandhigram Rural Institute in Tamil Nadu and has done executive education from various institutes including the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Brands
Ather Energy doubles service network to 500 centres nationwide
EV maker scales support alongside growth to keep riders on the road
MUMBAI: Ather Energy is quietly building more than just scooters. It is building the backbone to keep them running.
The electric two-wheeler maker has expanded its service network to 500 authorised centres across India, nearly doubling its footprint in a year from 277. The move mirrors its growing retail presence and signals a clear focus on one often overlooked part of EV ownership, what happens after the purchase.
From the outset, Ather has prioritised service support in every city it enters, aiming to make ownership as smooth as the ride itself. Its Gold Service Centres bring in upgraded customer lounges, modern equipment and processes designed to make servicing more transparent and reliable.
Speed, too, is part of the pitch. Through its ExpressCare initiative, riders can get periodic maintenance done in about an hour, now available across 82 centres, turning what used to be a chore into a quick pit stop.
Ather Energy chief business officer Ravneet Singh Phokela said, “Crossing 500 service centres is an important milestone as we scale across the country. Reliable after-sales support is central to the ownership experience, and our focus remains on consistent service quality and accessibility.”
The expansion comes as demand grows for models like the Ather 450 and the Rizta, which have helped the company reach a broader set of riders across metros and emerging cities alike.
Alongside servicing, Ather continues to power up infrastructure through the Ather Grid, now one of the largest fast-charging networks for two-wheelers, with over 4,300 charging points.
With plans to scale further and deepen its presence, Ather’s approach is clear. Selling the scooter may start the journey, but keeping it running smoothly is what sustains it.
