India's industrial base depends on the automotive industry: Bhavish Agarwal

Mumbai, February 25, 2023: The automotive industry is one of the toughest industries, it is the cornerstone of industrial society, said Bhavish Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO, Ola Cabs. Speaking at ABP Network’s second edition of the ‘Ideas of India’ summit on the topic, ‘Come Ride With Me – How I Made It’, he said “This is India’s moment in the sun. It is our mission to lay down advanced technology for future technology generations”.

He explained about the three businesses under the Ola Group, with Ride Sharing and consumer business as the highest contributor to the company’s revenue. “We are the #1 cab servicing company in India,” he said. “It is a highly profitable business which is why I was planning on announcing an IPO, but because the markets went down, we are planning to do it next year now,” he added. The second business, Ola Electric, has grown with the launch of their electric 2-wheeler scooter. “We need to humanize the EV revolution in India and design products suitable for the Indian market,” he said. Further adding to this, he said, “We are the #1 EV company is India and have surpassed the total of the next two companies. Also, we will be launching our electric bike this year and our electric car by the end of next year.” He further emphasized, “Our car will be the best in the world.”

Further elaborating on his business ventures, he said, “Through Lithium, our third business, we will use lithium and cell technology to create leverage for India.” Defining his goals, he added, “We will be the largest lithium producer in India.” Emphasizing on the adoption of AI, he said, “New types of jobs will get created because of AI and productivity will increase for the whole economy and that has to be the journey.”

The Co-Founder and CEO of Ola Cabs discussed other challenges taken up by the company, such as it set-up an all-women’s factory employing 3000 young women. “The factory that we are building, we have built Phase 1 which we constructed in record time in less than 8 months,” he said.

The summit promises an invigorating line-up of speakers with prominent figures from the world of business, politics, artists from the Hindi Film Industry, authors and other eminent sectors. The two-day conference confluences diverse ideas from various industries to promote India in becoming a burgeoning leader in the world.