SoftBank's Founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who is an investor in Ola, has said that the ride-hailing startup may introduce a fleet of one million electric cars. The vehicles will be locally manufactured to support the government's 'Make in India' campaign, he added. SoftBank has invested $2 billion in Indian startups like Ola, Snapdeal, Oyo Rooms, and Grofers among others.
Son remains confident about India's start-up ecosystem and internet economy. Hoping to exceed the commitment of $10 billion investment in India, Son is bullish about the country's digital revolution, investment opportunities in solar energy, and electric vehicles.
After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Son talked in an interview about the need to work with the government to participate in the 'Make In India' campaign by backing up the cab aggregator Ola and bringing electric vehicles to India. The government of India has announced its vision that by the year 2030 all new vehicles in the country would be electric vehicles.
Over the next five-10 years, Son intends to provide jobs to skilled young people or former members of the army. The skilled training opportunity is open to whoever wishes to have a job, and a free car for those who want to be a driver for Ola but do not possess enough money to buy a car.
According to Son, Ola, which currently has regular diesel and petrol (CNG in the National Capital Region) cars on its platform, can help reduce pollution by providing electric vehicles to its drivers.
Mint reported in June that the sales of electric vehicles in India rose by 37.5 percent to 22,000 units in the year that ended on March 31, citing industry lobby group Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles. Only two thousand units were four-wheelers.
Electric vehicles have made little progress in India because of their high cost of manufacturing and the lack of infrastructure such as battery-charging stations. Due to this, investors have stayed away from investing in this industry. This could begin to change if an investor as big as SoftBank has bet on the sector.
SoftBank, which has invested about $400-$500 million in Ola, India's largest cab aggregator, continues to be bullish on the company. "I am going to support Ola," Son said when asked about the company's struggle to find new investors despite seeing significant growth in its business.