Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal advocates for AI independence in India. Read here to know why

Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal has ambitious plans to position India as a leader in both AI and electric vehicles (EVs). 

In an exclusive interview at the Business Today India@100 summit, he shared his roadmap for transforming India into a global hub for artificial intelligence through his new venture, Krutrim and expanding Ola Electric's Li-ion cell production to 100 GWh over the next decade. 

Ola Electric’s stock, which recently debuted on the Indian market, has already doubled in value, signalling strong investor confidence.

'Tesla is for the West, Ola is for the rest’

Aggarwal envisions Ola Electric as a critical player in solving global challenges like climate change but with a focus on the developing world. He contrasts Ola’s mission with Tesla's, emphasising that while Tesla caters to “a billion rich people,” Ola targets the remaining seven billion. 

“Tesla is for the West, Ola is for the rest,” he stated during the interview. According to Aggarwal, Ola is committed to creating products tailored for India, including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and small cars, all powered by cutting-edge battery technology from their giga factory—the first of its kind in India, as per the report.

Krutrim and the AI Revolution

Aggarwal’s ambitions extend beyond the EV sector. With Krutrim, he aims to build India’s AI tech stack, challenging the dominance of global tech giants. “We have been using global technologies for too long without realising the implication,” he told Business Today. 

He pointed out that while India generates 20 percent of the world’s data, only 10 percent of it is stored in the country. “It’s colonialism all over again,” Aggarwal said, stressing the importance of retaining data sovereignty and building India’s own AI infrastructure.

Aggarwal sees Krutrim as a significant opportunity to develop India's own AI technology infrastructure. He said that India relied on foreign technologies for far too long without fully understanding the consequences. Despite benefiting from the global IT services boom, which is part of a $30-trillion tech industry, India’s IT services market cap is only $300 billion, a mere 1 percent of the global tech landscape. 

Aggarwal emphasised the need for India to shift from being a beneficiary to a leader in technology, with Krutrim's vision aimed at positioning India as a global AI powerhouse.