Ola is investing Rs 2,400 crore to set up a factory for electric scooters as the ride-hailing service joins the race to manufacture and export battery-powered transport from India.
The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Tamil Nadu to establish the unit in Hosur that will be able to produce 2 million scooters a year, Ola said in a statement on Monday. Ola billed it as the “world’s largest e-scooter factory”.
The factory will be one of the most advanced facilities in the world, and create 10,000 jobs once competed, Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder of Ola, said in the statement.
The company joins the likes of Hero Electric, a unit of Hero MotoCorp Ltd., and Ather Energy, also based by Hero MotoCorp, to make electric scooters in India. Ola, which competes with Uber Technologies Inc. in the ride-hailing market (both are backed by Softbank) is looking expand its offerings in shared mobility.
BloombergNEF expects electric two-wheeler sales in India to exceed one million units by 2025 from about 110,000 in 2019. Ola’s plan could help reduce supply-side constraints to electric two-wheeler adoption. The company, which plans to roll out its first e-scooter in the coming months, said the vehicle will also cater to markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Earlier this year, Ola said it’s hiring more than 2,000 people for its electric business and also roped in Jose Pinheiro, a General Motors Co. veteran, to head its global manufacturing and operations.