Ola Futurefactory to be run entirely by women, says Bhavish Aggarwal

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said on Monday that the Ola Futurefactory will be run entirely by women. He said that the company has welcomed the first batch of women employees. At its full capacity, there will be over 10,000 women employed in the factory. This will make the Ola Futurefactory the world’s “largest women-only factory and the only all-women automotive manufacturing facility globally”.

In a blog post, Aggarwal said that an Aatmanirbhar Bharat requires aatmanirbhar women. This is the first of a series of initiatives the company is undertaking to create a more inclusive workforce as well as provide economic opportunities to women.

Aggarwal stated that Ola has invested significantly to upskill these women in core manufacturing skills. These women will be responsible for the production of every vehicle in the Ola Futurefactory.

“Enabling women with economic opportunities improves not just their lives but that of their families and indeed the whole community. In fact, studies show that just providing women parity in the labor workforce can grow India’s GDP by 27%,” stated Aggarwal in the blog post.

He says providing parity to women in the labour workforce requires conscious efforts from every corner. For instance, in manufacturing, women participation remains the lowest at 12 per cent.

“For India to be the world’s manufacturing hub, we must prioritise upskilling and generating employment for our women workforce. Ola Futurefactory is one step towards our vision of the world’s future -- a world with clean mobility, a carbon-negative footprint, and an inclusive workforce. We will continue to take steps that get us closer to achieving each of these across Ola and encourage others to join us so we can accelerate India’s progress,” said the Ola CEO.

The Futurefactory will produce Ola’s range of electric scooters. Ola's electric scooters S1 and S1 Pro are priced at Rs 99,999 and Rs 1,29,999, respectively (ex-showroom including FAME II subsidy and excluding state subsidies).

Located in Tamil Nadu, the facility is a 500-acre site. When complete, it will be the world's largest two-wheeler factory, producing 10 million vehicles annually at its full capacity. In December last year, the company had said it would invest Rs 2,400 crore for Phase 1 of the factory.

Also read: Ola factory getting ready "double quick"; co to make important announcement on Monday: Bhavish Aggarwal