Ola plans to expand the fleet of CNG cars operating on its platform by the introduction of over 5,000 cabs in the Delhi-NCR region. To achieve this, it will invest Rs 200 crore in the coming six.
The company has partnered dealers of car manufacturers including, Nissan, Chevrolet among other. It also has partnered with banking and financial institutions including the likes of Shriram Finance, State Bank of India and IDBI. Currently, the Softbank-banked firm already has more than 20,000 CNG cars in the Delhi-NCR area.
By expanding the fleet, Ola will increase its profits on the lucrative Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida routes that have a large portion of the on-demand transportation market. Drivers who join the program can save up to Rs 1.5 lakh on exchanging their old diesel vehicles for new CNG ones over the next six months.
Ola COO, Pranay Jivrajk, acknowledged that Ola was expanding its fleet of CNG the Delhi region. It will add more than 5,000 vehicles in the next one week. He further noted that the company has brought car manufacturers, financier, banks and valuation platform so that they get heavy discounts, spot valuation, loan offer and exchange.
He also noted that this was the largest amongst a series of programs that was rolled out by Ola for the purpose of encouraging CNG adoption in Delhi-NCR area. In the end, of next week, the primary aim is to ramp up by at least 25%.
Ola has been expanding the number CNG cars and driver partner in the Delhi-NCR region following a crackdown on diesel taxis moving within the city after a court order against them was issued. In November last year, Ola raised about $500 million (Rs 3,299 crore) in a series of F funding from Tiger Global, Baillie Gifford, SoftBank Group and other. Up to now, Ola has managed to raise over $1.3 billion (about Rs 8,600 crore) in external funding. The company has 350,000 vehicles registered on its platform and offer service across 102 cities in India.
