Ola Electric approves $209m unit investment

Ola Electric Mobility of Bengaluru makes electric two-wheelers and approved a 20 billion rupee (US$209 million) investment into two wholly owned units through compulsory convertible preference shares.

The board cleared 15 billion rupees (US$157 million) for Ola Electric Technologies, which handles vehicle manufacturing, and 5 billion rupees (US$52.2 million) for Ola Cell Technologies, which makes battery cells.

The filing said the money would meet business needs as the company faces weaker sales growth and lower market share in India.

Ola Electric Technologies revenue fell to 47.2 billion rupees (US$492 million) in FY25 from 51.5 billion rupees (US$538 million) a year earlier, while Ola Cell Technologies revenue rose to 730 million rupees (US$7.62 million) from 39.7 million rupees (US$414,000).

🔗 Source: The Economic Times

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Ola is shifting capital to its core scooter business as sales weaken

The company approved a 20 billion rupees (US$209 million) infusion into two wholly owned units through compulsory convertible preference shares. It will put 15 billion rupees (US$157 million) into Ola Electric Technologies, which makes vehicles. Another 5 billion rupees (US$52.2 million) will go to Ola Cell Technologies, which makes battery cells, per a May 14 filing.
The money is meant to cover business needs as sales growth slows and market share in India slips, per the filing.
Ola earlier sought to reallocate 8.8 billion rupees (US$91.6 million) from IPO funds set aside for battery cell factory expansion to support regular business activities 1.
Its scooter unit is burning cash under the direct-to-customer model. Based on its outlet count at the time, average sales were three vehicles per outlet each month. That estimate came from InsightEV, an electric-vehicle industry research firm 1.
The battery plan has run into delays and missed Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme milestones. None of the 12.3 billion rupees (US$128 million) from the August 2024 IPO earmarked to lift battery capacity to 6.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) had been used at that point, per ICRA in a May 2025 report 2.

Ola’s delays underscore the execution risk in vertical integration

These setbacks expose a broader risk in vertical integration for hardware makers. When the vehicle business comes under strain, costly projects like battery plants can tighten cash flow instead of helping competitiveness 2.
That also matters for India’s battery self-sufficiency push. By October 2025, only 1.4 GWh of the 50 GWh targeted under the Advanced Chemistry Cells PLI scheme, an Indian government incentive program for domestic battery manufacturing, had been commissioned on time 3.
All of that commissioned capacity was tied to Ola Electric 3. The company is also in talks with global and domestic automakers to sell lithium-ion cells and battery packs from its Krishnagiri gigafactory, a large-scale battery manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu 3.