Electric vehicle firm Ola commences construction of its 100GWh gigafactory in Tamil Nadu

Electric vehicle company Ola on Wednesday said it has commenced construction of its 100 GWh gigafactory at its manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu. The company has installed the first pillar of its cell factory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu today.

A gigafactory is a facility where equipment and components related to electrification and decarbonisation technologies are manufactured. In February, Ola signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government committing investments of Rs 7,614 crore for manufacturing electric cars, two wheelers and lithium cell gigafactories in the state. Spread across 115 acre, the Ola Gigafactory is expected to commence operations by early next year with an initial capacity of 5 GWh (Giga Watt hours).

It would be scaled up to 100GWh in phases, a company statement said. On commencement of operations at full capacity, it is claimed that the factory would be one of the world's largest cell manufacturing facilities. "This is a proud moment for us as we installed the first pillar of our gigafactory today. Our gigafactory will be a major milestone in India's electrification journey, bringing us closer to making India a global EV hub," said company founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. Ola has also invested in cell and battery research and development and has set up one of the advanced cell r&D facilities in Bengaluru.

As per the MoU signed with state government, the company would set up an electric behicle Hub which would house advanced cell and electric vehicle manufacturing facilities, vendor and supplier parks and the larger ancillary ecosystem for electric vehicles, at a single location.