Indian billionaire challenges Musk’s Tesla 

The founder of Ola, a ride-hailing startup turned EV maker, has vowed to introduce affordable electric cars for the Global South  

Indian billionaire Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder and CEO of Ola, a major ride-hailing company in the South Asian country, has vowed to introduce affordable electric vehicles (EVs) to the Global South. Taking aim at Tesla founder Elon Musk, Aggarwal claimed that while the US-based company builds vehicles for the rich, Ola has its sights set on developing nations.  

“Tesla is for the West, Ola is for the rest,” Aggarwal stated at a business event in New Delhi, noting that building for India and then expanding to the Global South is the strategy for his company’s Ola Electric venture. Aggarwal emphasized that the firm’s mission is to position India as a global EV hub. 

Ola Electric is a major manufacturer of electric two-wheelers, but also specializes in manufacturing EV components, including battery cells. The company made its stock market debut earlier this month, with shares soaring nearly 82% in less than two weeks, bringing its market capitalization to over $7 billion and making it one of the most successful IPOs in India. 

Indian media have often compared Aggarwal, who has a net worth of around $1.4 billion, to the world’s richest man, Musk, who has an estimated $228 billion to his name. This is largely because Ola, which first entered the limelight with its ride-hailing services, has made big strides in the EV and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors. Most recently, Aggarwal’s firm launched Krutrim, a large language model AI company. Musk owns Grok, an AI-powered chatbot that is bundled as part of the ‘Premium’ package on his X (formerly Twitter) platform.  

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At the event, Aggarwal addressed these comparisons, suggesting that Musk should explore new ventures. “I’m much younger than him, and he’s someone we all admire. But honestly, I’m not sure why he’s venturing into the same businesses as I am. Maybe he should try something different for a change. I started Krutrim before he launched his AI venture,” Aggarwal said. 

Since being founded earlier this year, Krutrim – which translates as “artificial” in Sanskrit – has become the first Indian AI startup-unicorn (privately-held startups valued at $1 billion or more) after raising $50 million from various investors. Apart from its own large language model, which supports ten Indian languages and will be able to take input in a total of 22 languages, Krutrim is also developing data centers to support India’s AI ecosystem. The company has announced plans to design, manufacture, and release its first AI chip by 2026. With Krutrim, Aggarwal has suggested “the opportunity and ambition is to build India’s AI text tech.”