The electric vehicle arm of ride-hailing company Ola, Ola Electric and Bank of Baroda has signed the largest long-term debt financing agreement in Indian EV industry.
The 10-year debt of US$100 million is towards the funding and financial closure of the Phase 1 of the Ola’s Future factory, Ola’s global manufacturing hub for its electric two-wheelers.
The Ola Future factory is coming up on a 500-acre site in Tamil Nadu, India. At full capacity of 10 million vehicles annually it will be the world’s largest two-wheeler factory.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman & Group CEO, Ola, said, “Today’s agreement for long term debt financing between Ola and Bank of Baroda signals the confidence of the institutional lenders in our plans to build the world’s largest two-wheeler factory in record time. We are committed to accelerating the transition to sustainable mobility and manufacture made in India EVs for the world and we are happy that Bank of Baroda has joined us in our journey.
Ola had earlier announced in December 2020 that it will be investing Rs 2,400 crore for setting up the Phase 1 of the factory.
Sanjiv Chadha, Managing Director & CEO, Bank of Baroda, expressed, “The government has brought in several policies to incentivise make-in-India and to enable India to become a global EV leader. Ola is leading from the front and we are delighted to partner with them for their EV business. The Ola Future factory will put India on the global EV map and we are proud to be associated with them.”
The first phase of Ola Future factory is nearing completion shortly, following which production trials of the much awaited Ola Scooter will commence. The soon-to-be-launched Ola Scooter will be manufactured at the Ola Future factory, which will also serve as the global EV hub for Ola for its range of scooters and other two-wheelers.