Ola is actively looking for land for its electric car project after launching its S1 Pro electric scooter which has had a lot of teething issues. It is in talks with 6 states which include UP, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Telangana. It is looking to acquire 1,000 acres of land for a project that could be worth Rs 10,000 crores.
This comes after Ola set up a 10 million unit factory for its electric scooter in Tamil Nadu in record time in less than 2 years. Ola wants to build its electric car factory even faster within a year. Ola is looking for land for its lithium-ion cell manufacturing which could get a dedicated location of its own.
"The R&D process with the car has been ongoing for about 6-8 months within Ola. In about two years from now, we will be ready with it," Ola Electric CEOI Bhavish Aggarwal had said last month.
"The sub INR 10 lakh category is absolutely relevant for India and globally there are some examples of products doing well in this segment, especially in China. We are definitely focussed on that segment but whether we do it first or later, we have not decided yet," he added.
"Our focus is not just about India, but in ASEAN, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, Eastern and even parts of Western Europe, the kind of vehicles people buy are different. We want to electrify vehicles that the mass of the world uses-two wheelers, small cars, and midsize cars. India is a very good microcosm of that, and a good representation of that market," he further elaborates on the EV maker's plans.
ET Auto is reporting that Ola is actively looking at Varanasi region as the location for this new factory which also happens to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency. Varanasi is in UP which has been slow to take off in terms of manufacturing but chief minister Yogi Adityanath has been attempting to change this perception for the state.
Bhavish Aggarwal with Ola electric scooter
Modi before he became prime minister was the chief minister for the state of Gujarat had attracted investment from Tata Motors for the Tata Nano project in 2009 which changed the perception of the state.
The challenge for UP as a state is that it doesn't have an adjoining port and is landlocked which could be a logistical challenge for an automotive manufacturing operation.
"We are in talks with the company and will extend whatever help they may need to set up the factory. It will be very beneficial for the state and generate employment for thousands of youth," a UP government official told ETAuto.
"Every state has its pros and cons. What we can offer here is strong leadership, governance, availability of manpower and a huge market," the ET Auto report added.
Ola also is one of the companies which has qualified for the government's PLI scheme for advanced cell chemistries.
"We will actually need more capacity. We are looking at 50 GWh overall. We will need land for that as well. It might come up with the car factory or in a separate location. It is too early to say for now," claimed the ET Auto report.
Bhavish Agarwal has often claimed that the company planned on bringing its first electric car to India by 2023.
