'India should be the world leader in electrification'

Ola Co-founder & CEO Bhavish Aggarwal reveals his vision for the EV sector in India, the future of ride-hailing and the company's electric car plans

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Dhavish Aggarwal, 37, the aggressive, straight-talking Co-founder & CEO of Ola, is currently a man on a mission: to make India a global leader in electric mobility. Two of his companies-ride-hailing venture Ola and electric mobility company Ola Electric-are in the midst of rapid scaling up. But EV two-wheeler market leader Ola Electric, with a range of scooters, an upcoming motorcycle range and plans for a car launch by next year, is where the bulk of the action is. In a freewheeling conversation with Business Today's Sourav Majumdar, Aggarwal talks about his vision for the EV sector, his plans for the ride-hailing venture, and more.

Edited excerpts:

Q: Bhavish, to start off, give us an overview of where Ola stands at this point.

A: I am very optimistic about India in general and about technology and, obviously, about our company. Let me share a bit with you about how Ola is growing. [The] Ola group is now three companies. Ola, which is my consumer company, where ride-hailing was my main business, is profitable and is growing well. You will see us do a few very interesting AI applications in Ola. And I will talk about that more as the conversation progresses. We are the No. 1 firm by ride-hailing market share.

Q: What is the current market share?

A: There are different numbers, but 60 per cent is more or less the media- and third-party number.

Q: What is the status of your IPO plans for Ola?