‘India is moving again!’: Ola GMV crosses pre-Covid levels, says Bhavish Aggarwal

Ola Co-founder and Chief Executive Bhavish Aggarwal has said Ola cabs gross merchandise value (GMV) crossed pre-covid levels last week, and the recovery from the second Covid wave is three times faster.

He also said around 10 million people used Ola for the first time ever in FY21, which shows people want to feel safe. He said Ola's auto business has risen almost 150 per cent of pre-covid levels, thanks to its 'safety first' approach.

Aggarwal also said over 3 lakh Ola drivers have been vaccinated and soon, over 100 per cent of people will be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Ola Electric this week said it has tied up with leading banks and financial institutions, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Prime and TATA Capital, for providing loans to customers for its S1 electric scooter, that will be available for purchase from tomorrow i.e September 8.

Ola had last month launched the Ola S1 electric scooter in two variants  -- S1 and S1 Pro -- at prices Rs 99,999 and Rs 1,29,999, respectively (ex-showroom including FAME II subsidy and excluding state subsidies).

Also read: Ola Electric partners banks, financial institutions for loans to customers for its e-scooter

Ola Electric had opened pre-launch bookings of its electric scooters in July for Rs 499 and had received 1 lakh orders in just 24 hours but it has not disclosed how many orders it has received so far. On August 15, the company announced its foray into the green mobility space with the launch of its first electric scooter, Ola S1.

The scooter comes in 10 colours with in-house development 8.5 KW motor and 3.97 kWh battery packs. Ola is setting up a manufacturing plant, spread across 500 acres, in Tamil Nadu.

Also read: ‘Will push up EV volumes’: India Inc extols Bhavish Agarwal on Ola electric scooter launch

The Bengaluru-based firm is looking to make inroads into the electric four-wheeler industry by 2023. Ola CEO Bhavish Agarwal confirmed this in a fun-filled Twitter banter with one of the users last month.

A user asked Agarwal whether he owns petrol, diesel or an electric car under his tweet on the Ola Electric Scooter launch. To this, Agarwal said, "Never owned a car till 2 months ago. Now a hybrid. The next one will be electric in 2023. Ola's electric car."

Also Read: Bhavish Aggarwal says Ola electric car will be out in 2023

Ola claims to be India's largest mobility platform, serving over 250 cities across India, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Ola's core mobility offering in India is supplemented by its electric-vehicle arm, Ola Electric; Ola Fleet Technologies and Ola Skilling.

Also read: Ola to make inroads in used car retailing business, to compete with Spinny, CarDekho