Rare-Earth free electric motors: Six takeaways from a conversation with Bhaktha Keshavachar at Chara
Notes from conversations with entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, and other stakeholders building India's deep tech and climate tech ecosystems.
Bhaktha Ram Keshavachar, founder and CEO of Chara Technologies in Bengaluru, is leading an effort to develop motors that don’t need the conventional permanent magnets, whose make up includes rare-Earth metals, the processing of which is almost entirely controlled by China. The processing of these minerals also has an environmental impact.
Bhaktha and his fellow founders Ravi Prasad and Mahalingam Koushik, bring decades of industry expertise to their venture. Founded in 2019, Chara has engineered what are called reluctance motors. Unlike the traditional motors, reluctance motors don’t have permanent the magnets that need rare Earth minerals such as neodymium or samarium. Magnetic fields are instead created by the electric current in the windings around the stationary part (stator) of these motors.
In my recent conversation with him, Bhaktha discusses Chara’s technical pivots, manufacturing milestones, industry partnerships, and the challenges of deep tech entrepreneurship in India. He also shares insights on talent development, the evolving ecosystem, and Chara’s plans for global expansion. Here are my top six takeaways.
Rare earth-free motor technology addresses a critical global supply chain risk
Most high-efficiency electric motors today rely on rare earth magnets, which are expensive, environmentally damaging to extract, and subject to geopolitical risk — especially as China controls over 90 percent of the global supply chain. Chara’s technology, based on reluctance motors, eliminates the need for rare earths, offering a strategic solution to this problem.
Product-market fit is emerging fastest in off-highway and industrial applications
While Chara initially targeted India’s large two-wheeler and three-wheeler market, Bhaktha notes that the most immediate traction has come from off-highway uses such as agricultural equipment, golf carts, turf care machines, and compressors. These sectors value Chara’s high-efficiency, rare earth-free motors and have helped the company build early credibility.
Strategic partnerships and manufacturing scale are key to customer confidence
A major milestone for Chara is its partnership with Greaves Cotton, which will manufacture and distribute Chara’s motors under license. Bhaktha explains that large customers are wary of “startup risk” and prefer established suppliers; this partnership provides the scale and distribution needed to win bigger deals and accelerate adoption.
Chara’s deep R&D helped the startup develop a market-ready product
The company’s early years involved a challenging pivot from switched reluctance motors, which proved too noisy, to synchronous reluctance motors. Chara invested heavily in core R&D, especially in software algorithms to control non-linear motor behavior, resulting in a certified, field-deployed product that matches the performance of traditional motors.
Building a deep tech team in India requires nurturing core engineering talent
Bhaktha notes a shortage of experienced engineers in electromagnetics and mechanical domains, as most graduates prefer software careers. Chara addresses this by hiring young engineers with some experience and training them further in the requisite foundational physics and engineering, which is essential for their multidisciplinary innovation.
Chara’s next phase is focused on scaling sales and global expansion
With technical challenges largely solved and products certified, Bhaktha says Chara’s top priority is now sales and deployment — both in India and internationally. The company is targeting new product development for larger vehicles and is actively pursuing business in Europe and the US, tapping global interest in rare earth alternatives and recent geopolitical shifts.
In Conversation
In-depth conversations with entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, and other stakeholders building India’s deep tech and climate tech ecosystems.
