Ola Electric gets Board nod to raise ₹1,500 crore

The board of Ola Electric has approved a plan to raise fresh funds of ₹1,500 crore. However, the mode of fundraising is yet to be known, given that the board, while giving its nod on Saturday, has kept all options open, including issuing equity shares, and/or convertible securities—including warrants, public offer, rights issue, qualified institutional placement (QIP), and private placement.   

Recently, the company pumped in ₹40 crore into its subsidiary, Ola Cell Technologies Private Limited, even as it has already invested nearly ₹1,500 crore into its giga factory, and expects an additional ₹1,200 crore to be spent over the course of this year and next year for its 5 GW plant. While the cell division is yet to contribute meaningfully, the company recently forayed into the non-automotive segment with energy storage batteries, which it will start rolling out starting January 2026. 

In Q1FY26, Ola Electric posted a consolidated net loss of ₹428 crore, lower than the ₹870 crore loss in the previous quarter, but up from the ₹324 crore loss a year ago for the corresponding period. The company’s revenue also declined by 49.6% on a year-on-year basis to ₹828 crore from ₹1,644 crore.  

The company's auditor for the Q1FY26 financial statement noted that the Ola group had negative cash flow from operations during the quarter ended June 30, 2025, amounting to ₹143 crore, which was primarily on account of continued operating losses and lower-than-expected growth in sales volume, "Further, the Company has provided letters of support to all its subsidiaries indicating the Company’s  intent to provide necessary financial support, which requires the Company to consider mitigating  circumstances, in order to support its operations and meet its continuing obligations," the auditors noted.

In May this year, rating agency ICRA, while downgrading the company, noted that negative pressures on the rating of Ola Electric Technologies (OET) could arise from lower product acceptability and/or increase in competition, leading to an inability to improve sales volumes and profitability. “An adverse impact of any large debt-funded growth plans, leading to a deterioration in liquidity profile and credit metrics, would also be a key monitorable,” the note said.   

Even as ICRA sees the current liquidity position of the company adequate with unencumbered cash and bank balances of ~₹3,109.8 crore as on March 31, 2025 (at a consolidated level) and a part of this earmarked for capex, and R&D expenses, the note further said, “The available cash balances coupled with debt drawdown for OCT are expected to be sufficient to meet the funding requirements in the near term. ICRA expects the company to continue to raise further funds over the medium term, to be used primarily for capacity expansion, new product development, and geographic diversification, etc.”