Ola Electric Gets Board Nod To Raise INR 1,500 Cr

Electric vehicle (EV) major Ola Electric’s board today approved a proposal to raise up to INR 1,500 Cr via a mix of equity shares and convertible securities.

The board cleared the fundraising plan at its meeting on October 25, 2025. The company said the issue may be undertaken via various routes, such as a public offer, rights issue, qualified institutional placement (QIP) or private placement.

“… We wish to inform you that the board… has considered and approved a proposal for raising of funds, inter alia, by issue of such (a) number of fully paid-up equity shares, and/or convertible securities… for an aggregate consideration of up to INR 1,500 Cr…,” the company said in a filing with the exchanges. 

The proposed fundraise will be subject to shareholder approval and other necessary regulatory clearances. The company did not disclose when or at what price the securities would be issued.

This comes a couple of days after the EV major informed the exchanges that its board would convene to consider a proposal to raise funds. What is interesting is that the company is raising fresh capital just a year after it bagged INR 5,500 Cr via the fresh issue during its initial public offering (IPO) in August last year.

The latest fundraise also stands in contrast with the company’s claims, in its Q1 FY26 shareholders report, that it was “well funded for this year and the next” due to its INR 3,197 Cr cash balance at the end of June 2025. 

Meanwhile, the development comes as early backers, including SoftBank, Z47 (erstwhile Matrix Partners India) and Tiger Global, have been reducing their stakes in the EV maker since the beginning of this year.

What has not helped is the growing competition from legacy automakers like Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor, which have piped the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company in the number of EV registrations for the past many months. 

On top of this, the EV maker is also reportedly under the scanner after an employee reportedly accused founder Aggarwal and a senior executive of the company of harassment in a note before dying by suicide. The company has denied the allegations.

As if this was not enough, the company’s statutory auditors, in their FY25 report, also flagged “material weakness” in the in-physical verification of scooters at the stores and state distribution centres of one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. The company later clarified that the observation was related to an isolated case of inventory verification at its subsidiary, Ola Electric Technologies. 

The biggest issue, however, appears to be the EV maker’s lacklustre financial performance. Ola Electric’s consolidated net loss widened 23.3% to INR 428 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year 2025-26 (FY26) as against INR 347 Cr in the year ago period. Revenue from operations also nearly halved to INR 828 Cr in the quarter under review from INR 1,644 Cr in Q1 FY25. 

As a result, Ola Electric’s shares have been on a downward spiral. The stock has declined more than 38% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis and is still trading 30% lower on the BSE compared to its listing price of INR 76. 

Shares of the company closed Friday’s trading session 1.53% lower at INR 52.85 on the BSE.