

Bhavish Aggarwal tops up Ola Electric share pledges as stock hits record low
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI: Ola Electric Mobility founder and chairman Bhavish Aggarwal has pledged an additional 3% of his stake in the listed electric two-wheeler company to top up collateral against loans taken, as the stock continues to slide. Shares hit an all-time low of ₹33.20 per share on 9 December.
According to shareholding data reviewed by Mint, Aggarwal created two more pledges in December, bringing the total pledged portion to 13%. Aggarwal holds 30.02% in Ola Electric. The total value of pledged shares is about ₹600 crore against the Ola Electric's total market capitalization of ₹15,280 crore.
Aggarwal has pledged the shares to Aditya Birla Capital Ltd and Axis Trustee Services Ltd, the same lenders he had previously approached for financing his privately held artificial intelligence (AI) venture, Krutrim. Since Ola Electric went public in August 2024, this is the fourth instance in which he has used his stake to fund the venture. Pledging shares involves using stock as collateral for loans, with lenders entitled to transfer the shares if the loans are not repaid.
Promoters such as those at Vedanta have previously pledged entire stakes to raise funding for ventures. Promoters typically must top up pledges as the value of the collateral falls. None of Aggarwal’s pledges has been invoked so far.
Queries sent to Ola Electric earlier todayremained unanswered till press time. Over the past month, Ola Electric’s shares have fallen about 22%, even as the Nifty Auto index gained 2%. The slide comes amid a sharp erosion in the company’s electric two-wheeler market share, which dropped to 7% in November, down from more than 50% at one point in 2024.
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