They said the cab war was over. They said Uber had deeper pockets, better technology, and infinite patience. In 2015, Silicon Valley pundits wrote Ola’s obituary before the ink was dry on their Series E term sheet. This is the beginning of the Ola Electric Success Story.

But they forgot one thing: The “Bandipora” Factor.

While Uber was trying to copy-paste its San Francisco playbook into Mumbai, Bhavish Aggarwal was obsessing over the chaos of Indian roads. He didn’t just build an app; he built a survival mechanism for the Indian commuter. He introduced cash payments when the world demanded credit cards. He launched auto-rickshaws when the elites wanted sedans. He didn’t play by the Valley’s rules; he played by Bharat’s.

And he won.

But today, the battlefield has shifted. The man who defeated Uber is no longer interested in just moving people from Point A to Point B. He wants to control the energy that moves them and the intelligence that guides them.

From a 500-acre “FutureFactory” in Tamil Nadu run entirely by women to “Krutrim,” India’s first AI unicorn, Aggarwal is attempting the most aggressive pivot in Indian startup history. Is this the rise of a new industrial titan, or is Ola stretching itself too thin?

Let’s decode the Indicorn reality.

The “Zidd” Strategy: Why Ola Bet Everything on Manufacturing

Most software founders are terrified of “Atoms.” They like “Bits.” Software has high margins, zero inventory, and infinite scale. Manufacturing has supply chains, unions, and rust. Yet, in 2021, Bhavish Aggarwal did the unthinkable. He poured his software capital into concrete and steel.

Why? Because Software alone cannot fix India.

To truly unlock the Tier-2 and Tier-3 economy, you don’t just need an app; you need a vehicle cheap enough to run. The “Petrol Economy” was eating into driver earnings. Ola Electric wasn’t a vanity project; it was a defensive moat to kill the fuel cost for his ride-hailing army. By building the S1 Pro, he wasn’t just competing with Bajaj; he was trying to delete the biggest line item in a driver’s P&L: Petrol.

Conclusion: The Indicorn Reality

Today, Bhavish Aggarwal wants to control the energy that moves India and the intelligence (Krutrim AI) that guides it. It is a vertical monopoly rare in the Indian ecosystem. As they expand, this Krutrim AI pivot will likely be the differentiator that separates them from legacy auto players.

Read Next: Bhavish fought the petrol economy, but Deepinder Goyal fought the “Profitability” paradox. Read [The Hunger for Reinvention: How Zomato Survived the Burn to Build an Empire].

Reference: This growth aligns with the Government of India’s push for sustainable mobility under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (Government of India).