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Ola Electric takes ‘critical step towards profitability’ but doesn't say by when
Ola Electric says it has received a PLI certificate for its Gen 3 scooters, which forms the bulk of its sales, in a “critical step towards profitability”.
Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. on Tuesday said it has taken a “critical step towards profitability” for its automotive business, but didn’t specify by when.
The pureplay electric two-wheeler maker has received “certification for compliance” to get production-linked incentives for its Gen 3 scooters, according to an exchange filing. With that, Ola Electric’s entire scooter portfolio—Gen 2 and Gen 3—is PLI compliant. The certification makes the company eligible for incentives ranging from 13-18% of the determined sales value until 2028.
“Securing PLI certification for our Gen 3 scooters, which form the bulk of our sales, is a critical step towards profitability,” an Ola Electric spokesperson said in the exchange filing. This will directly strengthen our cost structure and margins, enabling us to deliver sustainable growth.”
“With our auto business targeted to turn EBITDA positive, the certification acts as a strong catalyst to achieve that goal while ensuring that customers continue to get the best-in-class EVs at highly competitive prices.”
Notice how Ola Electric didn’t specify a timeline to turn EBITDA positive. EBITDA—or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation—is a measure of operational profitability of a company. It still doesn’t mean that said company is turning a net profit.
Ola Electric’s Financials
The company’s automotive business, led by founder billionaire Bhavish Aggarwal, posted a net loss of ₹271 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2025, as against ₹209 crore in the year ago period, according to quarterly results declared on 14 July. That, when revenue from operations nearly halved to ₹826 crore. The company delivered 68,192 units in April-June as against 1,25,198 units a year ago.
Still, gross margin improved—from 18.4% in Q1 FY25 to 25.6% in Q1 FY26. The EBITDA loss narrowed to ₹96 crore from ₹112 crore, but the loss margin widened to 11.6% from 6.8% in the year-ago period.
Ola Electric aims to turn operationally profitable some time this fiscal year as against in the first quarter promised earlier, according to an earnings call on 29 May 2025. The EBITDA breakeven will happen at under 25,000 units/month as against 50,000 units/month claimed earlier due to cost-efficiency measures. The new PLI win works to this advantage.
